Class 
Book 




Death of Rev. Dr. Anthon -- 

Rer. Henrv Anthon, D.D„ rector of BL Mark's 
Church in this city, died at his residence in becond 
avenue this morning^ Dr Anthon was m the 
sixty-ninth year of his age. His father, Dr. ft. C. 
Anthon. though a German by birth, was an officer 
in the British army, and at the close of the last 
century settled in New York. The late deceased 
was one of his six sons, of whom Charles Anthon, 
the classical scholar, and John Anthon, tne lawyer, 
have become distinguished in their respective vo- 

Ca The S iate Rev. Dr. Anthon has for many years 
occupied the pulpit of St. Mark's., in the Bowery, 
one of the oldest and richest of our city churches. 
He was prominent in the Onderdonk case, taking a 
vehement position against the restoration of the 
deposed Bishop. His only literary works beside I 
his sermons are two small church catechisms. 




^.HyAB.-RitcTi^- 



MMt% to tU HjMMg 



Key. Henry Anthon, D.D., 

LATE REOTOK OP ST. MARK'S IN TnE BOWERY. NEW-YORK. 



A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, 



RT. REV. MANTON EASTBURN, D.D., 

BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



NEW-YORK: 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OP 
EVANGELICAL KNOWLEDGE. 






*f>f& 






MEMOIE 



RT. REV. MANTON EASTBURN, D.D. 



It is the promise of God's word that " the right- 
eous shall be in everlasting remembrance." This 
assurance has in all ages, and under all circum- 
stances, been regularly fulfilled ; and, among the 
means which have been employed by divine Prov- 
idence for its accomplishment, we of later times can- 
not be sufficiently grateful for the powerful agency 
of the press. Through this channel, distinguished, 
servants of God who have written, as well as acted 
and spoken, for the truth, continue to make them- 
selves felt in the labors of their pen when their 
voices are hushed in the grave ; while those who, 
not authors, have been active for Christ, and signal 
blessings to their generation, have their example 
kept before mankind in printed memorials of their 
career. I have rejoiced in the prominence given by 
the Evangelical Knowledge Society to the depart- 
ment of Biography. For it cannot be otherwise 
than that multitudes of private Christians, as well 
as ministers of Christ, are debtors to the Memoirs, 
put forth by this Institution, of those who not only 
as preachers of the great doctrines of the Keforma- 



tion, but as evangelical laymen, have " held forth the 
word of life " in the midst of snrronnding darkness. 
A request has been made to me, to prefix to the Tes- 
timonials contained in this Yolnme a brief sketch of 
the life of my dear and honored friend, who forms 
the subject of those tributes of aifection. Believing 
that such a record will be useful to the community, 
and to the younger clergy especially, as presenting 
to their attention a character in many respects re- 
markable, and worthy of imitation, I gladly comply 
with the invitation ; humbly commending the effort 
to the divine blessing. 

Henry Anthon was born in New- York, on the 11th 
of March, 1795. I find, from a record before me, 
that this birth took place at No. 11 Broad Street, 
where his parents then resided ; and the fact suggests 
to me, as it will also to many of my readers, the 
contrast which that street now presents to its appear- 
ance half a century ago. It was then lined on either 
side, not as now with warehouses and offices, but with 
substantial dwellings which had been erected in the 
old colonial days ; not the least interesting being- 
some of those quaint Dutch houses of yellow brick, 
with their antiquated gables, which once distinguish- 
ed here and there the lower end of the city, but 
which have all been swept away before the march of 
commerce. In this locality, now so transformed, 
Anthon first saw the light. After completing his 
days of school instruction, he entered Columbia Col- 
lege ; and four years afterwards, in 1813, left that 
seat of learning with his Bachelor's Degree. 

Immediately after quitting his Alma Mater, Mr. 



Anthon commenced his preparation for Holy Orders 
under the direction of Bishop Hobart, who then pre. 
sided over the Diocese of New- York. His compa- 
nion in theological study was his college class-mate, 
Hugh Smith, afterwards the Rev. Dr. Smith, between 
whom and himself an intimate union of heart con- 
tinued until Dr. Smith's death terminated the friend- 
ship. At the expiration of three years, on the 29th 
of September, 1816, and at the age of 21, he was or- 
dained Deacon by Bishop Hobart in Trinity Church ; 
and shortly afterwards commenced his ministerial 
labors at Eed Hook on the Hudson River, where he 
officiated as Minister of St. Paul's, and from which 
he went regularly to some adjacent villages in the 
discharge of missionary duty. I have no informa- 
tion as to the character of these ministrations of his 
early years : but that they must have given promise 
of the efficiency, ability, and zeal of his maturer 
days, may be inferred from the fact that, during the 
three years of his employment in this cure, he re- 
ceived invitations, young as he was, to several sta- 
tions of considerable importance which he felt him- 
self constrained to decline. 

On the 27th of May, 1819, Bishop Hobart conse- 
crated the new parish church at Red Hook ; at the 
same time admitting Mr. Anthon, who had attained 
the requisite age of 24, to Priest's Orders. In this 
same year he was married to Emilia, daughter of Mr. 
Joseph Corre, of New- York, — entering, with this 
event, upon the enjoyment of a domestic happiness 
of forty-two years which has never been surpassed. 

Mr. Anthon's frame, at this period, had not the ro- 



bustness which it attained in subsequent years. He 
had also somewhat impaired his health by the un- 
avoidable exposures of a missionary life ; and, as a 
measure of precaution, sought for some temporary 
field of labor in the milder climate of the South. 
He accordingly sailed for South Carolina in the au- 
tumn of 1819, and remained in that Diocese, with 
the exception of a few months, until the spring of 
1821, when he returned finally and with restored 
strength to his native State. During this brief min- 
istry at the South, he seems to have earned for him- 
self the same warm appreciation of his character 
from various quarters, which he had gained while 
in the Diocese of New-York. Invitations to posts of 
influence came to him in rapid succession, though 
successively declined. The impression which he 
evidently made during these days of his youth, 
and which none at the present day, whether 
friends or antagonists, will learn with surprise, was 
that of a man of conscientious devotion to the work 
of God ; of systematic diligence ; of vigorous mind, 
disciplined by classical education, and consecrated 
with all its faculties to his Master's service. Among 
the words of affectionate confidence which were 
drawn forth by his departure from South Carolina, 
was an expressive testimony from the Yestry of the 
parish he had served. " They embrace this opportu- 
nity," they say, " of declaring, that words are inade- 
quate to express the high opinion they entertain of 
his meritorious services in the ministry ; and trust 
they will not be suspected of flattery in this last offi- 
cial act towards their beloved Pastor, when they add 



that his eloquence and zeal in the service of the 
Church have not more adorned his public character, 
than his virtues and admirable deportment in private 
life have endeared him to his parishioners." 

On Mr. Anthon's return to New York, an invita- 
tion to the Rectorship of Trinity Church, Utica, 
which had been extended to him without success du- 
ring his ministry at Red Hook, having been renewed 
by the Yestry of that parish, he accepted the ap- 
pointment. Among the reminiscences of bygone 
days, I have a very pleasant one of an evening 
spent at the parsonage of this parish, soon after my 
revered friend commenced his residence at Utica. It 
was in the month of August, 1822, a few months af- 
ter my receiving Deacon's Orders from Bishop Ho- 
bart, and while passing through the town on a jour- 
ney to Niagara; and, though Mr. Anthon himself 
was absent, the cheerful hospitality of his happy 
home is fresh in my remembrance. His ministry 
here, extending over a space of seven years and up- 
wards, was characterized by the same energy and 
singleness of aim which had hitherto marked his 
labors. And, as it might be expected, he was emi- 
nently successful in securing the confidence, respect, 
and affection of all classes of the people. 

While Rector of Trinity Church, Utica, Mr. An- 
thon was greeted with frequent tokens of the grow- 
ing appreciation of his character in the Church at 
large. He became a Trustee of the General Theo- 
logical Seminary ; he was elected a Delegate from 
the Diocese of New York to the General Convention ; 
and, besides receiving an invitation to an important 



parochial charge in one of the Southern cities of the 
Union, was elected Hector of the prominent parish 
of St. Thomas's in the city of New York, which had 
been deprived by death of the Rev. Cornelius R. 
Duffie, its first incumbent. He at length yielded to 
a request from the Yestry of St. Stephen's, New 
York ; and in the early part of 1829 commenced his 
labors in that congregation. This was his permanent 
return to the metropolis where he had passed his 
childhood and youth ; and where, in after years, by 
those clearer perceptions of evangelical truth which, 
through the Holy Spirit, it was his unspeakable hap- 
piness to obtain, — by his unwearied activity in estab- 
lishing or promoting various agencies for the dissem- 
ination of this truth, as thus stamped upon the con- 
victions of his mind, and embraced with the glowing 
aifections of his heart, — and by courageous acts in 
defence of a pure Gospel, — he was destined not only 
to become a conspicuous man, known every where, 
but, better than that, to be an instrument, in God's 
hands, of extensive blessing to the cause of pure and 
undefiled religion. 

Though previously having some personal acquaint- 
ance with my honored friend, as one of the clergy of the 
Diocese with which I was myself connected, it was not 
until he came to reside in the city of New York that 
our intercourse extended beyond the exchange of cus- 
tomary civilities, when we were occasionally thrown 
together. I now saw more of him, — although at that 
time he still cherished the ecclesiastical associations 
of his past life, and enjoyed in return the confidence 
and strong regard of that portion of the Church with 



which he had always been identified. But I remem- 
ber very distinctly the respect and affection with 
which my interviews with him inspired me, even at 
this early period. He always seemed to me a true 
man of God ; a man of prayer ; a man who was gov- 
erned by one desire, that of knowing the truth, and 
of following it out in the ministry he had been called 
to fulfil. On the few occasions when I had the op- 
portunity of hearing him preach, he made precisely 
the same impression. He was serious, simple, and in 
earnest. One of his discourses, which I heard him 
deliver from the pulpit of St. Stephen's soon after he 
came to New York, has remained with me ever since. 
It was on the Parable of the Sower : and I recollect 
not only the pleasure I received from the terse, 
chaste, and perspicuous diction in which he clothed 
his thoughts, but the edification with wdiich I left 
the church ; and the conviction I had that, with the 
progress of years, a man so conscientious, so honest, 
and with such tendencies as he plainly evinced, would 
certainly arrive at length at the full appreciation and 
reception of that system of doctrine, revealed in 
Scripture, and incorporated by the great Reformers 
with the standards of the Church of England, which 
was afterwards to fill his life with joy, and shed hap- 
piness upon his bed of death. 

While Hector of St. Stephen's, Mr. Anthon was 
invited to St. James's in Philadelphia. This ap- 
pointment he declined ; but in 1831, two years after 
removing to ISTew York, he resigned St. Stephen's, 
and, at the solicitation of the Yestry of Trinity 



10 

Church in his native city, became an Assistant 
Minister in that ancient and influential parish. In 
this field of labor, to which he had been attracted 
by many tender associations as the fold where, during 
his school and college days, he had received his re- 
ligious nurture, he continued for five years ; devoting 
by no means the least proportion of his energies to 
that noblest among the departments of ministerial 
fidelity, the promotion of the spiritual welfare of the 
young. The respect and honor which had elsewhere 
recompensed his toils rewarded him here. He con- 
tinued to receive marks of confidence from various 
quarters. At the meeting of the General Conven- 
tion of 1832, he was chosen Secretary of the House 
of Clerical and Lay Deputies ; in that same year was 
conferred upon him the Degree of Doctor in Divin- 
ity by his Alma Mater ; in 1834, besides receiving 
invitations successively to the .Rectorship of Christ 
Church, Hartford, Connecticut, and of St. Stephen's, 
Philadelphia, he was elected, and in several subse- 
quent years reelected, Secretary of the Board of 
Trustees of the General Theological Seminary, — and 
also, in this and the following year, discharged the 
duties of Professor of Pastoral Theology and Pulpit 
Eloquence in that Institution ; in 1836, he was chos- 
en by the Convention of the Diocese of New York a 
member of the Standing Committee, and received an 
appointment to a parochial charge in the distant city 
of New Orleans. During all this period, too, he was 
actively connected with various Boards and Associa- 
tions, both General and Diocesan, for the promotion 



11 

of he missionary work, or for the advancement of 
tho Church which he loved, and in whose service he 
was a commissioned minister. 

It may well be supposed that, notwithstanding the 
attachment to his present situation which was pro- 
duced by the recollections of his early years, Dr. An- 
thon might desire to enter upon some parochial 
sphere, in which he might carry out more freely his 
own views and plans of operation. These feelings 
he probably entertained : for towards the close of 
1836, having been called to the prominent post of St. 
Mark's in the Bowery, New York, he accepted the 
appointment. Here he remained, until death, after 
a laborious ministry in season, and out of season, of 
twenty-four years, dissolved the connection. And 
here, too, it cannot be doubted that the happiest 
years of this servant of God were spent. For here, 
to lift him up high above all the obloquy to which 
his thorough change of principles exposed him, — and 
to nerve and cheer his heart in the violent struggle 
through which he must have passed, while severing 
himself from the connections, the friendships, and the 
ecclesiastical position of all his former days, — he had 
the life-giving aid of those new views of gospel truth 
which, in God's mercy, he had embraced. He felt 
divine comfort in the exchange of systems which he 
had made ; the righteousness and atoning blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, standing out clear, single, and 
unobscured before his eye, gave him a large increase 
of enjoyment in preaching; and, while laboring in 
other ways for the world, not only did he u abound in 
the work of the Lord," but, under the impulse com- 



12 

municated by his altered " spiritual understanding," 
and by liis fresh, relations, he went about that work 
feeling that " the peace of God kept his heart and 
mind through Christ Jesus." 

But I am somewhat anticipating. It is known to 
his contemporaries that, up to the year 1843, Dr. An- 
thon, though for a long time he had been leaning to- 
wards the evangelical system of the Yenns, the New- 
tons, and the Cecils of the Church of England, and 
had been gradually working himself loose from the 
trammels of his early education, yet continued in out- 
ward connexion with his old associates. This linger- 
ing attachment to past affinities is, in his case, easily 
accounted for by the influences under which he had 
been reared, and especially by those which had 
moulded him during the three years of his prepara- 
tion for the ministry. Bishop Hobart, as it has been 
seen, was the director of his studies. And who of 
us that knew that active, ardent, and sagacious pre- 
late, does not remember the remarkable power which 
he possessed of swaying the minds of others ? On 
the young clergy and candidates for Orders of his 
Diocese his decision of character, united with his 
fervid and genial nature, operated like a spell. Those 
who were predisposed towards the system of church- 
manship which he held were confirmed in their at- 
tachment to it ; while of others, none but those of 
deeply fixed principles, and firm of purpose, were 
able to escape from his fascination. Mr. Anthon 
loved and revered him ; and Bishop Hobart, until his 
death in the autumn of 1830, cherished for his young 
friend in return the most distinguished respect and 



13 

admiration. I well remember his saying to me more 
than once, in his own strong and peculiar way, when 
I was just entering upon the ministry, — ' Now, Sir, 
take Mr. Anthon as your model of a clergyman, and 
you will be exactly right.' 

It is more than probable that this early control 
over the mind of Anthon by his Diocesan, and the 
reverence which my beloved friend cherished for his 
memory, were the principal power which kept him 
so long in his old position, after his views had under- 
gone material alteration. But, in the summer of 
1843, an event took place which, under the provid- 
ence of God, brought him at once to a new stand 
before the community in which he lived, and before 
the Church throughout our whole country. Mr. Ar- 
thur Carey, a young gentleman, as I well know, of 
superior endowments, — for at one time I saw a good 
deal of him, as an attendant on my ministry in the 
Church of the Ascension, — had a few years before 
become a Candidate for Holy Orders. During the 
course of his preparation he imbibed the deadly poi- 
son of the Tracts for the Times ; which, originally 
put forth in England with the design of unprotest- 
antizing our scriptural Church, and bringing her 
back again, both in doctrine and worship, to the 
popish darkness from which she had been delivered, 
had been working with fatal effect on this side of the 
Atlantic. I need not give a lengthened statement 
of facts which are well known. Suffice it to say, 
that, when Mr. Carey had completed his terms at the 
General Theological Seminary, and applied for Dea- 
con's Orders, Dr. Hugh Smith, Rector of St. Peter's, 



u 

the parish, with which Carey was connected, refused 
to sign his Testimonials. The Bishop, and a more 
than usual number of presbyters, met by appoint- 
ment to examine the candidate ; when it appeared, 
from the answers elicited by various questions, that 
this applicant for admission to the ministry of our 
Protestant Church was no Protestant at all — that he 
either avowed, or was not prepared to deny, many of 
those very doctrines of Popery against which our 
Articles are expressly aimed — and that he regarded 
the blessed Reformation as a movement not to be 
justified. Notwithstanding all this, Drs. Anthon and 
Smith were the only examiners who refused to pro- 
nounce him qualified. The day of Ordination was 
appointed. Dr. Anthon and his friend proceeded to 
the church where it was to take place. "When the 
Bishop asked of the congregation the usual question 
as to any impediment, the two presbyters rose, and 
read their solemn protest against the act. Their ob- 
jection was overruled ; and Anthon and Smith left 
the church. 

This bold act in defence of the truth of God, and 
the purity of our Church, especially considering the 
ecclesiastical position and attachments of the two 
men, must ever be regarded as one of true heroism. 
It, of course, brought down a perfect thunder of in- 
vective from that large majority in the Diocese, and 
from multitudes elsewhere, who sympathized with 
Tractarian error. The Tractarian press, too, held 
them up to scorn, as persons guilty of the double 
offence of first disturbing the public worship of God 
by their interruption, and then irreverently leaving 



15 

the sanctuary before its services were finished. And 
it is due to truth to say also, that this act of theirs 
was one so novel in its character, and came as so 
thorough a surprise, that a few even of those who 
most thoroughly approved and honored their motives, 
and most entirely accorded with their views of gospel 
truth, regarded their course, technically considered, 
as irregular. I have to admit that, among this small 
number, I was one : but I now feel, and have long 
felt, that I was mistaken. As for these two witnesses 
for the truth, amidst the abuse of the many, and the 
hesitation and doubt of a few, they steadily held 
their way. And they gained their reward. From 
one extremity of the land to the other, their fidelity 
was cheered by tones of affectionate and cordial sup- 
port. But this was by no means their highest recom- 
pense. There can be no doubt whatever, that this 
deliberate, public, solemn act was an instrument 
more effectual than any other used by Providence 
at that time, for arousing attention through the 
whole country to the dangers of our Church ; for 
enlightening its members in regard to the true cha- 
racter of the errors which were then creeping in ; 
and for gaining fresh friends to our apostolical and 
scriptural Communion, in days of suspicion and dis- 
trust. Conscientiously, and with calm intrepidity, 
they had performed their duty, and they received 
their crown. 

By this act, — as has already been intimated, — Dr. 
Anthon, passing over all the intermediate steps 
which, but for such an occurrence, he might have 
taken, leaped at one bound into a new position. 



16 

And it seems probable that, disenthralled as he now 
was from the influence of associations with the past, 
he took advantage of this freedom for the purpose of 
examining more thoroughly the system which he had 
once held, and parts of which he still retained. It is 
very certain, if we may judge from what fell from 
him not only in the pulpit, but in conversation with 
his friends, that his mind gradually acquired more 
distinct views of the righteousness of Christ, as the 
great central truth of Christianity ; and also of the 
work of the Holy Spirit in converting and sanctify- 
ing the heart. And hence it is quite likely that, 
perceiving in Tractarianism only a fuller develop- 
ment of the sacramental theology which he had 
learned in his early days, he had been led to reflect 
upon the tendency of that theology, — namely, to 
hinder the direct approach of the soul to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and, secondly, to weaken by its teach- 
ing the conviction, in the minds of men, of the ne- 
cessity of that great spiritual change of which the 
Scriptures speak. And Dr. Anthon had evidently 
reconsidered his former views in regard to the neces- 
sity of Episcopacy to the very being of a Church : 
for I know that, subsequently to the period of the 
Carey Ordination, while he loved as intensely as ever 
our own pure and scriptural branch of the Church 
of Christ, he abandoned the exclusive ground on 
which he once stood, and adopted the comprehensive 
and moderate teaching of the English Reformers on 
this subject, as embodied in our authorized standards. 
I remember his stating to me very distinctly, in reply 
to a question I put to him several years ago, that he 



17 

had thus modified his views. And the effect of this 
change upon the form and aim which his labors took, 
was as marked as possible. In what he put forth 
from the press, and in what he did towards organ- 
izing associated bodies of men, it was manifestly his 
grand object to disseminate sound doctrine / to bring 
fallen men to think, not so much on the constitution, 
as on the message, of the ministry ; to show them the 
excellency of Christ, as the balm in Gilead, and the 
Physician of souls. Such a change, in such a man, 
was a very remarkable change. And he was brought 
to it by slow steps, under the guidance of Providence. 
His heart had been, from the commencement of his 
ministry, conscientiously desirous of promoting the 
salvation of men. He had long been tending to 
views of the gospel other than those which his edu- 
cation had implanted. At length destroying errors 
came in like a flood. These errors roused him to re- 
sistance ; and were made the instrument, under God, 
not only of immediately changing his position in the 
Church, but ultimately of planting him firmly, fully, 
and joyfully, on the ground held, both as to doctrine 
and polity, by the martyrs of the English Reforma- 
tion. 

The undisguised favor into which the doctrines of 
the Tractarian school were now growing, not only in 
the influential Diocese of New York, but in other 
portions of our Church, made a deep and sorrowful 
impression on Dr. Anthon's mind. And, conscien- 
tious as he was, he immediately turned his thoughts 
to the press, — as an agency which, cooperating with 
the faithful pulpits of the land, might be rendered 



18 

effectual, through God's blessing, in stemming the 
tide of error, and informing the people on the vital 
truths of the blessed gospel. Acting on his convic- 
tions of the necessity of " earnestly contending," in 
this way, " for the faith which was once delivered 
unto the saints," he established the Protestant 
Churchman. With this paper, either as principal 
or associate editor, he was connected until the end 
of his life. His spirit of self-sacrifice in undertaking 
such a work, who can call to mind without admira- 
tion ? He was already burdened with the weight of 
a parochial charge ; and all of us that knew him also 
know, that there was not one of the multiplied and 
exhausting duties imposed by this relation which he 
did not thoroughly and laboriously fulfil. That upon 
these he should have been willing to pile the addi- 
tional responsibilities of a writer for a weekly Journal, 
is a fact that deserves grateful remembrance. And it 
must be borne in mind, that the toils he thus endured 
were, in regard to emolument, unrecompensed toils, 
— for not only did he receive no returns of this de- 
scription from the labors of his pen, but, to a very 
considerable extent, he was a loser. But my admir- 
able friend put his hands to this enterprize, as he did 
every thing else, with a single eye to the glory of 
Christ, and the good of man. And who can doubt 
that important results followed the effort ? The Pro- 
testant Churchman was racy in style, and fearless and 
decided in statement. Its very name carried a power, 
and was admirably chosen : for it awakened men's 
attention, in short compass, to the fact that, in our 
Protestant Church, a churchmanship had arisen that 



19 

was ^mprotestant ; and that popish errors were again 
coming in, which mnst be confronted with an appeal 
to the decisive teaching of our authoritative standards. 
During the meeting of the General Convention in 
ISTew York in the autumn of 1847, was founded 
that Association so important in its object, and so 
crowned, ever since its commencement, with the di- 
vine blessing, The Protestant Episcopal Society for 
the promotion of Evangelical Knowledge. Among 
the various devoted and noble men who, on the eve- 
ning of its formation, assembled under that well-re- 
membered Christian roof in Warren street, I met 
none whose presence gave us all a higher satisfaction 
than that of Henry Anthon. And his countenance 
indicated the happiness which he himself felt, while 
inaugurating, in company with others, a measure so 
auspicious for the interests of truth. Here was to 
be another active effort in behalf of a pure gospel, 
through the powerful instrumentality of the press. 
He rejoiced in the prospect of the good which it 
might, by God's grace, accomplish, through the sim- 
ple plan of counteracting error by pages filled with 
truth. And what he then desired to see begun, he 
afterwards assisted with steady energy up to the hour 
of his last illness. For more than thirteen years one 
of the members of the Society's laborious Executive 
Committee, he was behind none of them for punctu- 
ality, untiring industry, and hard work. Convinced 
of the purity of the Society's aims, he cheerfully 
gave it his time, and thoughts, and bodily strength. 
And, in union with all that he did, and sanctifying it 
all, it is pleasant to notice his daily dependence on 



20 



God alone for the issue. His correspondence shows, 
indeed, that he asked for the cooperation of others in 
sustaining the work ; but it also shows, that his chief 
anxiety was that all who wished well to the cause 
should strengthen it by supplication, when they 
bowed their knees in secret to Him " without whom 
nothing is strong, nothing is holy." The Evangelical 
Knowledge Society has greatly nourished. So far as 
the instruments of this success are concerned, grati- 
tude is due to every one of the active Christian men 
who have managed its operations. But there is not 
one among them that deserves more enduring re- 
membrance than the late honored Rector of St. 
Mark's, not only for his large, and yet unostenta- 
tious sacrifices for its prosperity, but, above all, for 
the impetus which he gave to the prayers of the 
friends of truth for a blessing on its work. 

Only three years had elapsed after the foundation 
of the Evangelical Knowledge Society, when another 
channel was opened for the diffusion of the sound 
doctrines of the Reformation, which immediately 
enlisted Dr. Anthon's affectionate interest and aid. 
This was the Pastoral Aid Society of the Diocese of 
New York. Impressed with a strong sense of the 
injury to the cause of true religion, and the hin- 
drance to the progress of our beloved Communion, 
arising from a certain class of ministrations, a num- 
ber of gentlemen, clerical and lay, united, in 1850, 
for the formation of an Association calculated to 
diminish, to some extent, the evil. The result was 
the establishment of the Society just named ; and its 
aims cannot be more clearly stated than in the words 



21 

of the Rev. Dr. Canfield, the writer of the Seventh 
Annual Report. " The demand from various quar- 
ters is for men who will present the gospel in its ful- 
ness and freeness to lost and perishing sinners ; who 
are zealous and unselfish ; who have been endowed 
with sufficient practical wisdom to enable them to 
present our beloved Church to the people in her own 
rightful attractions, instead of rendering her repul- 
sive by eccentricities and puerile conceits. Our va- 
cant parishes and destitute places must have pastors 
that will satisfy this demand, or the true work of the 
Church — the conversion of the sinner and the edifi- 
cation of the Christian — will make but little progress 
in the Diocese." Among the most active laborers in 
this work, notwithstanding all his other responsibili- 
ties, was the ardent Rector of St. Mark's. In the 
year 1860 he was chosen the Society's Corresponding 
Secretary, and was still holding that office when 
called to his rest. And we may easily understand 
the eagerness with which, even at the risque of over- 
tasking his strength, he went forward to the succor 
of such a cause, — illuminated as he now was with the 
knowledge, and experiencing in his own heart the 
divine peace, of those principles which it was the So- 
ciety's object to sustain and disseminate. 

In May of 1856, the Yestly of St. Mark's, in con- 
sideration of Dr. Anthon's having reached the twen- 
tieth year of his ministrations in that parish, renewed 
a proposition they had made a year before, — namely, 
that his son, the Rev. Edward Anthon, should be- 
come the Assistant Minister, and thus somewhat 
lighten the heavy labors of that cure. Mr. Anthon, 



22 

who was then the Hector of St. Thomas's, Taunton, 
in the Diocese of Massachusetts, accepted the ap- 
pointment, and removed to the scene of his new du- 
ties. His admirable father, however, in entire har- 
mony with his character and whole conrse through 
life, made use of a measure, intended solely for his 
own benefit, as nothing more than an instrument for 
doing good to others. After no long time, the son, 
at the instance of the parent, was seen engaged in 
missionary service in the north-western district of the 
city; the object contemplated being the building 01 
a chapel in that neighborhood, in connexion with the 
parish of St. Mark's. Into this enterprise Dr. Anthon 
entered with all his heart. And, indeed, it is quite 
interesting to observe that, while so actively em- 
ployed in Associations controversial in their origin, 
his affections were constantly glowing towards plans 
of practical Christian beneficence. The truth is, that 
his principle of action was the same in both cases, — 
love for men, and the desire to bring them under the 
saving power of the truth of God. I spent a few 
days under my honored friend's roof in the autumn of 
1860 ; and could not help being struck with the ten- 
der interest he took in this mission of St. Mark's. Its 
services were then held in a temporary upper room, 
but the permanent place of worship was near its 
completion. In April of the following year it was 
consecrated : but he through whose influence it had 
been commenced, and who had watched with the 
prayer of faith, and the joy of hope, the gradual 
rising of its walls, was not present to witness this 
consummation of his wishes. Only three months 



23 

before, he had ceased from his labors. In conse- 
quence of this unexpected departure of the founder 
of the whole work, that which was intended for a 
chapel now took a different character ; and, in con- 
formity with a resolution of the Vestry of St. Mark's, 
was set apart by the Bishop of the Diocese under the 
name of the Anthon Memorial Church. And a fit- 
ting monument, surely, was this beautiful edifice, to 
one who, amidst all his other multiplied and distract- 
ing labors, never lost sight for a moment of what was 
so dear to his soul, the extension of gospel ordinances 
to every corner of the land. 

My brief stay at St. Mark's Eectory, just alluded 
to, was during the week in which was held the first 
public meeting of the American Church Missionary 
Society, — an Institution which will ever be connect- 
ed with Dr. Anthon's memory, not only on account 
of the zeal with which he assisted in its organization, 
but also as being the last important measure for the 
maintenance of sound doctrine to which he gave his 
heart and labors, before he entered into rest. The 
secret of his interest in this Society is easily explain- 
ed. The doctrine of a full and free salvation, offered 
to sinners through the blood-shedding of the Son of 
God, was now peace and joy to his own soul ; and 
this great truth of the gospel, so precious to himself, 
he longed to see dispensed through the heralds of the 
cross far and wide to others. But in the aspect of 
the work of Missions at that time there was much to 
dishearten. The experience of five and twenty years 
had shown the unsatisfactory results of the mission- 
ary organization inaugurated in 1835 ; and had fully 



24 

demonstrated, that it was only by a return to the 
principle, so long abandoned, of voluntary associa- 
tion for carrying on the work, that any certainty 
could be had in regard to the character of the minis- 
trations dispensed. Dr. Anthon, therefore, gave him- 
self with all his wonted energy to the foundation of 
this new Society. His heart rejoiced in the plan. 
For it was one whereby those to whom the Holy 
Spirit had given " liberal souls," and who were eager 
to spend their money for the extension of the gospel, 
might be saved from the disappointment of seeing 
that money expended, in many instances, for the dis- 
semination of what is not the gospel. He was full of 
hope as to its future. And before his death he was 
permitted to see, in the enthusiastic welcome with 
which it was greeted, and in the readiness with 
which funds were poured into its treasury, clear evi- 
dence that it was needed, and that it was blest of God. 
His voice no more speaks for its interests, and his 
head and honest heart labor for it no longer. But he 
is permanently identified with it, as one of the fore- 
most of those who, from love for the truth, and act- 
ing on their convictions of duty to God, brought it 
into existence. 

When I took leave of my dear friend at the end of 
this short visit, I saw him for the last time. His 
work was near its conclusion. On Christmas Day he 
w T ent through the full services of that joyous festi- 
val in St. Mark's, including the administration of the 
Lord's Supper to three hundred of his flock. But it 
was with difficulty that he got through the duty, for 
he was suffering acutely with pain. He returned to 



25 

the Rectory ; and, after eleven clays of severe agony, 
expired on Saturday, the 5th of January, 1861. His 
death was in harmony with his life. Thoroughly re- 
nouncing himself, and resting humbly and entirely 
on the merits of the Saviour's atoning blood, he en 
joyed, through his illness, a quiet sense of security. 
The righteousness of the Redeemer, which had been 
growing more and more, for years past, to be with 
him the grand truth of the gospel, he now saw to be 
his refuge and strong tower. Into this tower, under 
the deep consciousness of sin, he " ran, and was 
safe." 

I have now brought to a close this rapid outline 
of Dr. Anthon's distinguished and honored course. 
"While thus tracing his career from early days, I have 
been carried back to the solemn past ; and have had 
the remembrance stirred up afresh of various persons 
who were then around me, and living actors on the 
busy theatre of life, but who have one after another 
vanished from the scene. I have been reminded, 
therefore, while writing this Memoir, as will also be 
reminded those of my contemporaries who read it, of 
the transient nature of what " we call our life." 
This same life, however, vanity as, in one sense, it is, 
is in another an infinitely momentous one ; for it is 
the space of years allotted by Providence to each of 
us, in which to fulfil the grand end of an immortal 
being, to " glorify God on the earth, and to finish the 
work which he has given us to do." The subject of 
these pages assuredly accomplished this end in no in- 
ferior measure : and, now that he is dead, we have 
the blessing of his example. It only remains for me 



. 26 

to call attention, in conclusion, to the prominent fea- 
tures of his strongly marked character. 

Dr. Anthon was a man of whom it may emphati- 
cally be said, that, all through his life, he had a sin- 
gle regard to duty. This was characteristic of him 
from the beginning. And I cannot help thinking 
that it was this steady aim at serving God, formed in 
him by the Holy Spirit, which gave such simplicity 
to his manners. It was the simplicity not only of a 
gentleman, but of a Christian. There was no rest- 
less, discontented, exacting selfishness, discernible in 
his intercourse with men ; and I can say for myself 
at least, that the impression he always distinctly 
made was that of one, who, in the fine old words of 
our Catechism, was " laboring to do his duty in that 
state of life unto which it had pleased God to call 
him." I have no wish to describe my friend as one 
exempt, in this, or in any other respect, from the in- 
firmities of our fallen nature. And I feel the force 
of a remark of Richard Cecil in his Memoir of Mr. 
Cadogan, that " impartial biography is to be found 
only in the Scriptures," and that " writing con amove 
was the fault of every memoir he had seen written 
by a friend." But I have represented Dr. Anthon, 
in tliis particular, just as he seemed to me, and as I 
truly believe him to have been made by the grace of 
God. And, after all, what a true glory there is in 
such a character! And how it towers above all 
other qualities in our estimate of one who possesses 
it, when the grave has closed upon him, and he has 
gone to his final account ! Then, especially, — as 
many of us, no doubt, have felt since this faithful 



27 

servant was taken from us, — it is the one feature of a 
man's course, and, above all, of the course of a min- 
ister of Christ, which seems of any real value. We 
dwell on it with abiding satisfaction. It gives a lus- 
tre to his memory which will not depart, and throws 
into the shade those factitious splendors by which the 
world is dazzled. By those just entering the minis- 
try, this ruling principle of Dr. Anthon's life may be 
studied with lasting advantage. In the excitable and 
ardent period of youth, there is a natural reluctance 
to wait for the course of events ; time seems to move 
slowly ; the importance of laying a foundation, by 
patient discharge of duty in the field assigned by 
Providence, for future efficiency, is overlooked ; and 
thus self-discipline is lost, — the character is not ma- 
tured, — and that portion of life which is so valuable 
as a time of education is wasted in a succession of 
scattered efforts, which in the end yield little fruit 
for God, and no advantage to the laborer himself. 
The true wisdom, suggested by these pages, and 
which should be sought by prayer, is to look stead- 
ily to present duty, and to make the glory of Christ 
the grand aim. For this not only brings peace, but 
ensures extensive usefulness to man. 

In connection with this simple desire of perform- 
ing his duty, my revered friend exhibited, as every 
body knows, the most thorough resoluteness in carry- 
ing out his convictions of duty, whatever might be 
the consequences which he expected to follow. Dr. 
Anthon was bom with this quality, so needful in all 
men, — more especially needful in public men, — and 
most of all needful in men put in commission, as 



28 

ministers of Christ, with " the defence of the gospel." 
His countenance, as engraved for this volume, indi- 
cates the man ; and particularly the compressed lips 
of that expressive month. But what he had by na- 
ture, the Holy Spirit marvellously strengthened. His 
conscience was tender ; this enlightened conscience 
made truth stand in its full importance before his 
eyes ; and the truth which he so keenly appreciated, 
lie was unshaken in the determination to uphold. 
And, as in the case of all able, and all good men, this 
firmness of his was a quiet firmness. It was accom- 
panied by nothing overbearing in manner, or noisy 
in profession. It was jiot a blind obstinacy ; for no 
man was more ready to yield his opinions, when con- 
vinced by the reasonable suggestions of others. But 
wherever he saw that God called him to stand, there 
he stood : — and no earthly power of menace or per- 
suasion was able to drive him from his ground. This 
is a noble feature of character ; but, being as rare as 
it is noble, it requires to be held up to the view of 
every man, who is a " Messenger, Watchman, and 
Steward of the Lord." Effeminate natures, — or na- 
tures feeble in their perceptions of the magnitude of 
truth, — or natures indifferent alike to truth and error, 
— are never wanting, who will do what they can to 
pull clown this quality from its high place. Inflex- 
ible constancy for the right is, with such, partizan- 
ship, and lion-heartedncss dwindles down into arro- 
gance and asperity. But, by the results which it 
achieves for Christ, it makes its mark on its genera- 
tion, and lives in the deserved remembrance of those 
who come after. That it gives an ambassador of 



29 

Christ true happiness, who that knew my departed 
friend can doubt ? When thinking of him, I have 
often called to mind two sentences of St. Paul, one 
of which as truly describes Anthon's character, as 
the other does his genial now of cheerfulness. 
" Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be 
strong :" " Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I 
say, rejoice." 

The last point of view in which I would present 
Dr. Anthon, and in which the foregoing narrative ex- 
hibits him, is that of an ambassador of God, all whose 
preaching and multifarious labors were directed to 
the exaltation of Christ Crucified. It was this desire 
to elevate the Saviour which lay at the root of his 
devoted affection for our own Church, and of his 
earnestness in extending its ordinances : for he knew 
that, wherever the Liturgy went, it carried the name 
of the Lord Jesus with it, standing forth as the name 
" which is above every name," and as the only Re- 
fuge of man, through all its services. And it was 
this which gave a spur to the industry of his most in- 
dustrious life. Enthroning the Redeemer in his own 
heart, as all his salvation, and all his desire, he was 
full of alacrity in laboring to have other men " count 
all things but loss, for the excellency of the know- 
ledge of Christ Jesus their Lord." Thus my beloved 
friend lived and toiled : not working to build up a 
merely external Church, but to bring men, in their 
conscious sin and misery, to the cross of Him who is 
mighty to save. I have found my spirit refreshed by 
this short review of his ministry ; and shall rejoice if 
only some few, here and there, shall, through the 



30 

reading of it, blest by the Spirit of God, have the 
desire awakened to become equally valiant for the 
truth — single-hearted — np right in word and deed — 
and determined, every where, and at all times, to 
know nothing but Him " that loved us, and washed 
us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us 
kings and priests unto God anpl his Father." 



FUNERAL SERMON FOR REV. HENRY ANTHON, D.D. 

BY REV. S. H. TYNG, D.D. 

Preached at St. Mark's Church, New- York, Jan. 13, 1861. 

" He was a faithful man, and feared God above many." — Nehemiah 7 : 2. 

This was, indeed, a precious tribute to personal cha- 
racter. Happy was the man who was truly entitled to it. 
Happy must ever be the one for whom, and in reference 
to whom, it may be justly applied, in the succeeding 
generations, and in the varied responsibilities of men. 

The Holy Spirit gives it here as the reason for the se- 
lection of a particular servant of God for a position of 
special responsibility in a time of peculiar trial. " I gave 
Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem, 
for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many." 
It was a most honorable memorial of the man, and a 
most substantial reason for the Providence that exalted 
and trusted him. But human character, under the one 
great system of redeeming and renewing love, is con- 
stantly reproduced, in the same exalted type, by the same 
divine power ; and the same gracious Providence gives us 
continually recurring demonstrations, in the history of 
other individuals elevated and trusted amidst important 
responsibilities, of the same rule of the divine govern- 
ment and will. We may not be able always to trace 
this operation in all the elements of particular living ex- 
periments, for how little are we really able to measure 
the actual motives, or to comprehend accurately the real 
purposes and principles of each other, in special cases of 



32 

trial and accountability ! But when God has graciously 
finished the work of individual life, and the character 
and the history stand out in their interwoven demon- 
stration, in all the completeness of the result perfected; 
when prejudice no longer blinds the judgment, and mere 
partiality no longer rules in the affections, how often 
may we find the key of God's appointments in this very 
fact ; and realize that the man was truly prospered, re- 
spected, and upheld, because he was, in the divine record, 
" a faithful man, and feared God above many !" 

Fidelity and godly fear ! They are a clasp of admir- 
able attributes, yoking the whole nature of man in a 
glad, serious, and earnest subjection to the divine author- 
ity, and in a living, practical conformity to the divine 
image. Fidelity has its respect to obligations. It is the 
very substance of duty. It looks to the one great rule 
of human conduct in every relation, the word and the 
will of the living God. It conforms the judgment, the 
conscience, and the heart, to that one grand and perfect 
rule. It is in the judgment — decision on the side of 
right. It is in the conscience — unshaken tenacity to that 
decision. It is in the heart — the free, full, and affection- 
ate embrace of it, and fulfilment of it in practical choice 
and action. It spreads itself out, conterminous with 
every relation of man ; it touches every possible obliga- 
tion of individual duty; it permeates the whole character 
with its living, vitalizing principle ; so that he that is 
faithful in that which is much, is faithful also in that 
which is least. And it is when, and only when, we sur- 
vey every relation in which one's life has been passed, 
with all the claims that God hath given to others upon 
him, that we may say, as a general tribute to his princi- 
ples, demonstrated in actual duty, "He was a faithful 
man." 



33 



"While fidelity is the attribute of concrete character, 
godly fear is the very principle of fidelity itself. It is 
not the slavish feeling which is afraid of God — which, 
conscious of guilt, and seeking no forgiveness, cowers 
beneath the undeniable threatenings of his law, and the 
frown of his judgments, with trembling and horror. It 
is the filial reverence which adores his Majesty as a Ruler, 
while it loves his appointments as a Father ; which, as- 
sured of complete redemption in his promise, and eternal 
acceptance in his love, can say with the intensest feeling, 
" I delight to do thy will, O God ! — yea, thy law is within 
my heart ;" wdiich bows before his spotless holiness with 
the deepest prostration ; contemplates his just authority 
with the most serious concern ; and yet clings, beneath the 
canopy of his promise, to his justifying grace and in- 
violable truth manifested and honored in the one wonder- 
ful sacrifice which he has made for sin, with the tenderest 
confidence, and without a doubt. It is love which rev- 
erences with delight. It is fear which is not afraid. It 
is a divinely given reverence of God, which casts out all 
fear of man ; wmich makes man faithful in every duty, 
because it raises him above the temptation to do wrong ; 
which exalts the Lord God in his heart, and delivers and 
defends him from every motive to sacrifice high and 
abiding principles of right, to temporary expedients for 
apparent gain, for unfounded peace, or for selfish gratifi- 
cation. 

This w r as the individual application of the text, and 
these are the manifest principles of its illustration. I feel 
myself needing no excuse, in adapting the instance, and 
the illustrations of the character described, to my beloved 
departed friend and brother, whose life and death it is 
my duty here to commemorate. 

" He was a faithful man, and feared God above many," 



34 

above many in degree, in the individual comparison of 
their personal illustration of the same high principles ; 
and above many, the multitude, or whatever multitude, 
who stood in opposition to the manifest will of God, and 
his duty toward him. He feared God above men, even 
though they were many, and he alone. 

It has been but for the twelve past years that my re- 
lations to him have been particularly personal or intimate. 
Our first mutual introduction, when compared with the 
facts of these closing years, was singular enough. In 
1829, he and another clergyman in this city, were ap- 
pointed, with myself, a Committee, at the annual meeting 
of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, in Phil- 
adelphia, to adjudicate, if it were possible, some terms 
of agreement between the two parties in the Church, in 
the affairs of that Society. We met in my study in Phil- 
adelphia — they the selected representatives of the one 
side, and I of the other. The elements of our discus- 
sions, or our report, are of little consequence now. We 
could agree on but little ; our views were very separate ; 
and the discussion of separating principles in our Church 
was then what it has remained for the more than thirty 
years since. But how changed has been the issue with 
these individuals themselves ! One pushed his exclusive 
sentiments until he left the Church and became a Papist. 
The other followed them as long as he could with a clear 
conscience toward God, and then turned nobly back, in 
the midst of immense and accumulated difficulties, and 
for years has stood upon the very ground, which on that 
day he earnestly opposed, and filled, at his death, the 
office of Chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
new Missionary Society — forced into separation by the 
very principles which he then defended and maintained. 
The facts which have been included between these two 



35 

points of time, and involved in the very relations which 
they have illustrated, have in a remarkable manner de- 
monstrated the proper application of our text to him. 
" He was a faithful man, and feared God above many." 
The religious schools of Bishop Griswold in Massachu- 
setts, and of Bishop Hobart in New- York, in which we 
were severally brought up, were certainly very different 
indeed ; and the individual transfer of mind and habits 
from the one to the other, was in many great points of 
thought a complete revolution. That he completely re- 
nounced the one for the other, in such a revolution, it 
would not become me to say. That the tendency of his 
mind and feelings were for many years wholly in that 
course, has been a fact too openly avowed and displayed 
by him to be denied. 

Born and educated in this city, at a time when the 
whole influence of the public teaching in our church here 
was of one description, it was but natural he should 
grow up under the influence of that special system. And 
whatever deviation he ever afterward made from the line 
of that instruction, was certainly completely personal, 
disinterested, and from the deepest conviction of truth. 

I have no doubt, from some very satisfactory testimo- 
ny, that his religious character was constantly enlarging 
and deepening, from the earliest years of his ministry. 
My first acquaintance with him, more than thirty years 
ago, impressed me with a peculiar pleasure, from his 
manifest earnestness of conscience, and his extremely 
frank and friendly manners ; and from that time, every 
year but the more engaged my respect for him, as a truly 
earnestf religious man. But when, from 1830, the semi- 
popish doctrines of the Tractarian school began their 
procession among our churches, though his feelings and 



36 

opinions were very strongly on the old High Church 
ground, it was impossible for him to sustain the new 
errors which, as it appeared to him, were now to be en- 
grafted upon the sentiments of his youth. He instantly 
opposed them, and contended with increasing earnestness 
against them, as a system which he knew and felt to be 
thoroughly wrong. He maintained this opposition till, 
in July, 1843, the great convulsion of the Carey ordina- 
tion threw him completely off from all his old ecclesias- 
tical connections, and placed him necessarily and finally 
upon the opposing side. His High-Church stand he had 
taken as a faithful man, and one who feared God above 
many; and he was slow and reluctant to cast it off. But 
never was there a man of a more frank and candid spirit, 
more open to conviction, or more unhesitating and instant 
in renouncing and retracing his path, however chosen, 
when he saw it to be erroneous or unsafe. His stand on 
that memorable day, July 2, 1843, was as truly faithful 
and God-fearing as it was decided and effectual. Never 
did two men more thoroughly act out a conscientious 
conviction of duty, or confer less with flesh and blood, 
in taking a stand for the truth of God. And that stand 
was triumphant. Ten thousand minds caught the light 
from their torches' gleam. Ten thousand hearts awoke 
with earnestness at their trumpets' sound. From end to 
end of our land, the fidelity of these witnesses for God, 
attracted new affection for our Church, won new friends 
for the Saviour's truth, awakened new hearts of love and 
prayer for themselves, and gave them a name of re- 
nown which generations will honor with delight. The 
respect and gratitude of all who loved the Gospel was 
theirs. And in his case, the action of the Vestry of this 
church most honorably and happily identified thf*n with 
the fidelity of their pastor. They said, in tb<w official 



37 



action two months afterward: "After a careful and de- 
liberate review of the origin and progress of the contro- 
versy, they are deeply impressed, as well with the purity 
of the motives by which their Rector has been actuated, 
as by the prudence, firmness, and wisdom which have 
marked his course ! The conduct of the Hector, in this 
trying emergency, has met with the unqualified approba- 
tion of this Vestry, and has given them a new guaranty, 
that he will ever be found a vigilant sentinel to protect 
the Church from all false doctrine, error, and innovation." 
It was an eminent occasion for their gratitude. And 
when their Rector thus stood boldly forth in the public 
congregation, to resist the encroachments of vital error 
upon the Church, never could the language of our text 
have been more truly applied to individual man : " He 
was a faithful man, and feared God above many." 

As an editor of the Protestant Churchman, and as the 
constant and assiduous pastor of this church, from that 
time onward, he was more and more decided, earnest, 
and unyielding in his maintenance of the truth of God. 
He established himself completely in the affections and 
confidence of all who loved the truth. The pure Gospel 
of the grace of God, offering pardon freely through the 
blood of Jesus, became yearly more dear to bis heart, 
and more important in his estimation. His new associa- 
tions in the ministry exceedingly cheered and encouraged 
him. Pie found and felt a peace and confidence in truth 
which he had never found before. He was beloved, 
revered, confided in, depended upon, in new and very 
interesting relations, by men whom he found most con- 
genial to his heart, and in whose fellowship he took un- 
alloyed delight. Cheerfulness, contentment, and Christ- 
ian love spoke in his relations, smiled in his countenance, 
made his home happy, and surrounded his path with 



38 

peace. He had given up much for Christ ; but, as all 
prove who follow in the same path, he lost nothing by 
Christ. 

In this even faithful course of pastoral duty — the 
father of the little ones, the guide of the mature, the 
consoler of the afflicted, the friend of all — he has finished 
Ms peaceful, happy course of life ; nor has he left an 
enemy behind him, but for the truth's sake. Blessed 
with general health, and singularly active and accurate 
in his management of business, he has found time to ac- 
complish varied departments and calls for public duty. 
The various evangelical and missionary societies in our 
Church found him a constant and very industrious sup- 
porter. In the extension of our Church in this city, he 
was earnestly engaged. The new Mission Chapel, nearly 
completed, and which the Vestry have now honored with 
his name, is a lasting monument of his activity and pru- 
dence. One of the last of his generous conceptions in 
public work was the spontaneous promoting and propos- 
ing the lease of some ground belonging to St. Mark's, 
as a site for a new mission chapel for the German Mission 
belonging to St. George's, in which the Vestry cheerfully 
cooperated, and are now completing. 

All these public labors and responsibilities were con- 
cluded with the interesting services of Christmas-day, 
but two weeks anterior to the day of his burial. From 
that service he went home to die. From that evening 
he yielded himself to the power of manifest and acute 
disease, from which he was released only for a heavenly 
home. From Wednesday till the subsequent Saturday 
week, it was the struggle of the dying man. Three 
times I had the pleasure of ministering in the words 
of exhortation and prayer at his bedside ; and on the 



39 

Inst Thursday evening I administered to him, and his 
surrounding sorrowing family, the Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper. He met his appointed departure in the 
most humble and peaceful manner. With a renewed 
depth in his perception of personal sin, and a more 
complete feeling of utter self-renunciation, he realized 
his shelter and security in the simple fullness of the 
Saviour's merit and power. When, in the language of 
affection, I expressed our value of his life and ministry, 
he gently said: "Do not praise me, my dear friend ; I 
feel that I am nothing ; my Saviour is all." When asked 
his present views of the stand he had so openly taken, 
he said : " I have nothing to retract ; Avhat I did was 
not my own seeking, but duty opened in the Lord's 
direction." His hope was calm and clear and adequate ; 
and though he suffered acute bodily pain, his mind and 
spirit were remarkably peaceful and confiding. " If the 
Lord has more work for me to do," he said, "he can 
raise me up. For me, the lowest place in my Saviour's 
courts is all I ask." Thus gently, though with suffering, 
the Lord his Shepherd led him through the opening 
valley of death. His rod and staff comforted him, and 
his goodness and mercy followed him, till in the house of 
the Lord he dwells forever. His walk had been upright- 
ness in the truth ; his end was peace. 

His departure has made a sad chasm for many. Few 
men are like-minded, generously to care for the state 
of others. Few men would be so generally and truly 
missed in the varied walks which affection blesses, and 
fidelity relieves. To us who were especially connected 
with him in the benevolent affairs of our Church, his loss 
will be great indeed ; and we can hardy dare to look for 
any one who can catch his ready pen, his quick percep- 
tion, his clean decision, his unfailing punctuality, his un- 



40 

wearied ability and willingness to work. Hi3 cheerful 
habit and manner were the very life of our associations. 
He never failed to minister to our pleasure, to our en- 
couragement, to our greater earnestness and readiness in 
duty ; and there will be no dissenting voice among those 
who have associated with him in the labors of the Gos- 
pel from the testimony which I have given. 

To his family, he was every thing that the sweetest 
kindness can make a man to others. The cheerful circle 
of that house, who, that has known it, has not loved ? 
For more than forty years of unbroken marital and 
parental love, has he daily returned to bless his house- 
hold. Peculiarly sad are the changes in a minister's 
household, when, in the midst of his active usefulness, 
the father is called. In the A r ery necessity of the condi- 
tion, every thing for them is broken up and changed 
with his departure. To them remains only the sweet 
but painful memory of the past, and the grateful effort 
to perpetuate the influence and instructions which they 
have received. The wounds may be covered, may be 
neglected or forgotten by others ; but they have no 
healing in the ministries of earth. May Jesus bless 
these beloved ones with his constant presence in their 
habitation, wherever it shall be, and you with an un- 
broken continuance of your faithful love to them, what- 
ever other household may and must beside assume their 
place. 

To you all, as his congregation, and the flock commit- 
ted to his charge, I would affectionately say: "His faith 
follow." Mark his course and conversation to its end. 
Unite to maintain the great principles for which he 
so faithfully contended. Perpetuate them solidly and 
thoroughly in this church, and give his standard to no 
one but a bearer of kindred spirit and purpose to his 



41 



own. Rejoice in the memory of the simple, paternal 
instruction in the pardoning, saving love of Christ which 
you have received. Have you really embraced this 
teaching in your hearts? Bless the God of grace, whose 
power wrought with it. Has it been without effect ? 
Let affectionate memory, grateful thought, now be made 
the instrument of leading your hearts to the Saviour, 
whom he proclaimed, that you may be washed in that 
blood of the Lamb in which his robes are made white 
forever. 

Thus we have followed to the grave " a faithful man, 
and one who feared God above many." With united 
honor Ave brought his body to this house of God, and 
praised God for the triumphs of his grace in him. He 
lay before us in his official robe, in majestic simplicity 
and calmness. His countenance was repose, and tran- 
quillity rested upon his brow. The warfare was accom- 
plished ; the conquest was given ; and in the assurance 
of his victory in Christ, we blessed the Lord, whose love 
had kept him to the end. And as we then looked upon 
his beloved form lying thus before us, never did words 
seem more appropriate in their application than these^ 
which came at once to mind : 

" Servant of God, well done ! 

Rest from thy loved employ ; 
The battle fought, the victory won, 

Enter thy Master's joy. 

" The voice at midnight came — 
He started up to hear ; 
A mortal arrow pierced his frame ; 
He fell, but felt no fear. 

" Tranquil amidst alarms, 
It found him on the field, 
A veteran slumbering on Ins arms, 
Beneath his red-cross .shield. 



42 

" His sword was in his hand, 
Still warm with recent fight, 
Heady that moment, at command, 
Through rock and steel to smite. 

u At midnight came the cry, 
1 To meet thy God prepare !' 
He woke, and caught his Captain's eye ; 
Then, strong in faith and prayer, 

" His spirit, with a bound, 
Left its encumbering clay ; 
His tent, at sunrise, on the ground, 
A darkened ruin lay. 

"The pains of death are passed ; 
Labor and sorrow cease ; 
And life's long warfare closed at last, 
His soul is found in peace. 

" Soldier of Christ, well done ! 
Praise be thy new employ ; 
And while eternal ages run, 
Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 



43 



The .Resolutions of the Vestry of St. Mark's Church, 
New- York. 

At a meeting of the Vestry of St. Mark's Church in the 
Bowery, held in the Vestry-room of the church, on the 
8th day of January, 1861 — 

Present : Messrs. M. Ulshoeffer and W. Bradish, Ward- 
ens ; and Messrs. H. B. Renwick, I. Paris, W. Remsen, 
J. B. Herrick, T. McMullen, J. Colles, T. M. Beare, Ves- 
trymen. 

Upon the report of a Committee appointed for that 
purpose, the following proceedings were had on the occa- 
sion of the lamented decease of Rev. Henry Anthon, 
the late Rector of the church : 

The Vestry, feeling deeply the great loss that the 
Episcopal Church has sustained, and particularly this 
parish, in the death of Dr. Anthon, who has been their 
faithful pastor since December, 1836, 

Resolved, That the emblems of mourning in the church 
be continued until Easter, and that, in commemoration 
of the exalted virtues and character of Dr. Anthon, an 
appropriate monument be erected in the church, with 
a suitable inscription, expressive of his able and faithful 
services in the ministry. 

Resolved, That the Vestry, sensible of the talent, zeal, 
and energy of their late Rector, express their unfeigned 
sorrow at the loss they have sustained. His untiring de- 
votion to the highest and best interests of the church in 
all its relations, and his unsparing, loving, and successful 
efforts at all times for the welfare of this parish, endear 
his memory to all who appreciate true piety and Christian 
example. 

Resolved, That this Vestry respectfully offer to the 



44 



widow and family of Dr. Anthon, and to Rev. Edward 
Anthon, the Assistant-Minister of this church, the ex- 
pression of their heartfelt sympathy under this afflicting 
dispensation. 

And whereas one of the objects of our late Rector, 
nearest and dearest to his heart, was church-extension ; 
and whereas the mission in Forty-third street, and the 
newly-erected church on Forty-eighth street, are fruits of 
his successful efforts for the increase of the dispensation 
of Gospel truths, 

Resolved, That the new church be consecrated as the 
Anthon Memorial Church, in perpetuation of the fact that 
mainly through his influence and endeavors, that church 
was erected by the Vestry of St. Mark's. 

Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be sent to 
the widow of Dr. Anthon, and also to Rev. Edward 
Anthon, the Assistant-Minister. 

Resolved, That these proceedings be published in the 
Protestant Churchman, and in other religious papers. 



The Resolutions of the Congregation of St. Mark's Chapel, 
New-York. 

At a meeting of the congregation of St. Mark's Chapel 
in the city of New- York, held on the 6th day of January, 
1861, after morning service — 

Dr. Galen Carter was called to the chair, and H. R. 
Dater and W. P. Wainwright were appointed Secre- 
taries. 

On motion the following persons Were appointed a 
committee to present resolutions expressive of the sense 
of the meeting, namely : J. A. Stoutenburgh, IT. A. Bost- 
wick, J. Buchanan Henry, H. R. Dater, James W. An- 
drews, Clinton Brush, C. C. Hatch. 



45 

The following resolutions were thereupon adopted : 

Whereas, This congregation has learned with the most 
profound regret, of the death of the Rev. Henry An- 
thon, D.D., Rector of St. Mark's Church and Chapel in 
this city ; therefore, 

Resolved, That while we bow with submission to the 
will of God in this bereavement, we do deeply mourn the 
loss of one to whose untiring efforts and faithful ministry 
w^e are indebted for the spiritual privileges w T e here 
enjoy. 

Resolved, That our affectionate sympathies be convey- 
ed to our Assistant-Minister and Pastor, the Rev. Edward 
Anthon, and to the family of our late Rector, commend- 
ing them to the grace of God, who alone can support 
them in this trying dispensation. 

Resolved, That we express to the Vestry and congre- 
gation of St. Mark's Church our heartfelt appreciation of 
the great loss which they and we have sustained, and that 
to our grief is added a deep and unavailing regret, that in 
the providence of God our beloved Rector was called to 
rest from his labors before he had witnessed their crown- 
ing, work in the completion of our chapel, and the full 
building up of this congregation — a work on which his 
heart had been set, and his desires fixed, through many 
years of labor and of love. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmit- 
ted to the family of our late Rector, and to the Vestry 
of St. Mark's Church, and be published in the Protestant 
Churchman, and such other papers as the Chairman shall 
direct. 

Galen Carter, Chairman, 

\\t r> w ^ ' i Secretaries. 

YV . P. Wain weight, j 



46 



Letter from the Kt. Kev. Dr. H. Potter, Jan. 6, 1861. 

To Mrs. Anthon: 

I have felt peculiarly attached to your 
husband. From the first moment of my entering upon 
my duties I have had nothing but kindness and courtesy 
from him. In recent events of a trying nature I felt his 
kindness very deeply, and I was much struck with the 
truthfulness and integrity of his character, and with the 
open and manly way in which he acted on his convictions 
of what was right. 

Dr. Anthon has been one of the most able, faithful, 
and useful Presbyters which this Diocese has ever had. 
He was a model of a Parish Clergyman ; and there has 
been something unusually steady, uniform, and persever- 
ing in his labors. He did his work in such a way, that, 
with God's blessing, it will endure, and stand, and bear 
fruit when many imposing activities shall have vanished 
into thin air. 



The Proceedings of the Meeting of the Clergy, at St. Mark's 
Church, New- York, Saturday, Jan. 12, 1861. 

The meeting was called to order by the Rt. Rev. H. 
Potter, Provisional Bishop. On motion of Rev. Dr. 
Tyng, Rev. J. Howard Smith, Rector of the Church of 
the Intercession, was appointed Secretary of the meeting. 
The Bishop, after some appropriate remarks, containing a 
tribute to Dr. Anthon's memory, informed the meeting 
that official duty at the funeral of another clergyman 
(Professor Hackley, of Columbia College) compelled him 
to retire before the close of proceedings, and called Rev. 
Dr. Turner to the chair. After appropriate and affection- 
ate remarks from the Rev. Drs. Turner, Tyng, and Dyer, 



47 

commemorative of the character and labors of the de- 
ceased brother, the following letter was read, having been 
left by Bishop Potter when retiring, and written in doubt 
of ability to be present : 

New-York, 33 "West 24th Street, Jan. 12, 1861. 

My Dear De. Tyng : I am even yet a little uncertain 
whether the services, desired of me at the funeral of Pro- 
fessor Hackley, will allow of my being at the meeting, 
called for this day at one o'clock, in reference to the death 
of our friend Dr. Anthon. I mean to be there if I pos- 
sibly can be. If I am not there at one precisely, you will, 
of course, proceed without me. To say nothing of the 
personal kindness which I have uniformly received from 
Dr. Aistthon, I feel very strongly that his character is, in 
one main particular, a character to which the Church 
should always be forward to do honor. He was a man 
of singular purity and integrity of purpose, open and 
truthful in all his ways. He passed a long life in uniform, 
steadfast devotion to the duties of the Christian pastor. 
Of his scholarship and ability it is unnecessary for me to 
speak. The world is ready enough to notice such traits. 
But it is wonderful how often little things divert our at- 
tention from that which constitutes the best of all claims 
to respect in a Christian minister — uniform, unvarying, 
earnest devotion to the daily work given him to do 
There are often special efforts or traits in a clergyman 
which excite admiration, but which, after all, are but a 
poor test of the substantial virtues of the man. Life- 
long, unobtrusive fidelity in daily duty, is something very 
different. It is solid worth. It deserves our homage. 
And such was the character of the departed friend and 
brother for whose memory we desire to testify our 
affectionate regard. Most faithfully yours, 

To Rev. Dr. Ting. H. Poiter. 



48 

On motion, a committee of three — Rev. Drs. Tyng, 
Cooke, and Jones — were appointed to draft resolutions 
expressive of the feelings of the clergy on the occasion. 
The Committee, after conference, presented the follow- . 
iri'g preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted : 

Whereas, The gracious Lord, who " holdeth the stars 
in his right hand, and who walketh in the midst of the 
golden candlesticks," has been pleased to call from his 
earthly ministry our highly esteemed brother, the Rev. 
Henry Anthon, D.D., late Rector of St. Mark's Church 
in this city ; 

Therefore, Resolved, That we regarded him, while 
living, with great affection and respect, as an upright, 
earnest, and honored servant of the Lord — one who 
strove to make full proof of the ministry which he had 
received of the Lord Jesus — and was favored, under his 
gracious providence, with many gifts and advantages for 
the fulfilment of his appointed work ; in the improve- 
ment of which he has for a long course of years studied 
to show himself approved unto God, a workman that 
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
truth, continuing faithful unto death. 

Resolved, That while we mourn his departure with the 
deepest grief, we affectionately cherish his memory, as of 
a candid, generous, and disinterested brother in the Lord, 
whose personal example has been honorable to our minis- 
try, and whose individual relations have been most agree- 
able and friendly to ourselves. 

Resolved, That we assure his widow and children, and 
other relatives, of our fraternal interest in their welfare, 
our sympathy in their peculiar grief, and our earnest 
desire and prayer that God would be pleased to multiply 
his covenant and abounding blessings upon them all. 



49 

Resolved, That we tender to the Vestry and congrega- 
tion of St. Mark's Church our respectful fellowship of 
Christian love in their bereavement, and shall gladly be, 
in any way the Lord shall open to us, helpful to them in 
our various relations, personal and official. 

Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to furnish a 
copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Anthon and the Vestry 
of St. Mark's Church. 

Resolved, That the minutes of this meeting be publish- 
ed in the Church papers of the city. 

J. Howard Smith, Secretary. 



Fort Dodge, Iowa. 
At a meeting of the Vestry of St. Mark's Church, 
after morning service on the 20th inst., the following 
letter was adopted, to be entered upon the records of the 
parish, with the request that the Hector deliver a sermon 
upon the death of Rev. Dr. Anthon : 

The Rector, Wardens, and Vestrymen of St. Mark's Church, Fort 
Dodge, Iowa, to the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Mark's Church, 
New- York : 

Brethren : We feel called upon to express our sym- 
pathy with you, and our appreciation of your great loss 
in the death of Dr. Anthon, your beloved Rector. We 
are afflicted, and mourn with you over the loss of so good 
and true a man. He w r as a father to us, our constant 
friend and benefactor. Our parish is greatly indebted to 
him for his generous aid, and we shall hold his name in 
grateful remembrance. Though so widely separated, and 
strangers, his love for us in the fellowship of the Gospel* 
always flowed out to the relief of our necessities ; so 
that through his aid the services of our Church have been 
sustained and the Gospel preached. But he is gone to 



50 

his rest, and our consolation is, that our great loss is his 
gain. 

We remain very faithfully yours, the Rector, Wardens, 
and Vestrymen of St. Mark's Church, Fort Dodge, Iowa. 
Charles A. Sherman, Clerk. 



St. James', Smithtown, ~N. YV 

At a meeting of the Vestry of St. James' Church, 
Smithtown, Suffolk county, ST. Y., held on the 18th day 
of January, 1861, at the rectory, it was 

Resolved, That the decease of our beloved friend and 
patron, the Rev. Dr. Anthon, of New- York, has brought 
sorrow to the hearts of his numerous friends in this par- 
ish ; that we share with others in appreciation of his 
general worth, and we tender to his bereaved family our 
warmest sympathies in this the hour of their affliction. 

Resolved, That in this dispensation of Providence we 
have sustained a great and irreparable loss, and we desire 
to place upon record our acknowledgment that it is owing 
in a great measure to the valuable assistance and wise 
counsels of our departed friend that this parish was estab- 
lished, and has, through Providence, attained to the pros- 
perity it now enjoys. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be commu- 
nicated by the Clerk to the widow and family of the de- 
ceased. 

J. Lawrence Smith, Cleric of the Vestry. 



Church of the Messiah, New- York. 
* At a meeting of the Vestry and congregation of the 
Church of the Messiah, Monday, January 28th, 1861, the 
following preamble and resolutions were unanimously 
adopted : 



51 

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove 
from this world the Reverend Henry Anthon, D.D. ; 
therefore, 

Resolved, That whilst we humbly acquiesce in every 
dispensation of divine Providence, we mourn the loss 
which the Church in this Diocese sustains in the death of 
so eminent a divine and so devoted a Christian as the 
Rector of St. Mark's. 

Resolved, That we hereby bear testimony to his many 
and repeated acts of kindness and very liberal assistance 
to the " Church of the Messiah," and to his untiring 
efforts for building up the Redeemer's kingdom among 
men. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be trans- 
mitted to his bereaved family, as a token of our sympathy 
with them in their affliction. 

William A. Tyson, ) ^ 7 

OUABLES A. HoKToi, \ **&**. 



THE MINUTES OF SOCIETIES. 



The Evangelical Knowledge Society. 

At the stated meeting of the Executive Committee of 
the Evangelical Knowledge Society, January 31st, 1861, 
ordered that the following be made the first entry upon 
the minutes : 

Since our last meeting, it has pleased our heavenly 
Father to take to himself our beloved brother and com- 
panion in labor, the Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D., a mem- 
ber of this Committee, and its Recording Secretary, who 
departed this life January 5th,1861. 

In every relation of private and official life, our brother 
was the same single-minded, straightforward, and con- 
sistent man. 

In motive he was honorable and sincere; in spirit, kind, 
forbearing and charitable ; in judgment clear and de- 
cided ; in action prompt, fearless, and earnest. His con- 
victions were deep and controlling ; and, without reference 
ever to persons or consequences, he did what he believed 
to be right towards God and man. 

He was singularly modest, never assuming any thing, 
but always ready to take any place and perform any duty 
assigned him. He was eminently a man of deeds rather 
than of words, and in his own silent and quiet way ac- 
complished a great work. He belonged to that class of 
men whose worth is never fully known or appreciated 
until they are removed from the world. 

Of Dr. Anthon we feel that it can be truly said that 
u being dead, he yet speaketh ;" and having gone to his 
rest, " his works do follow him." 



53 



A grateful remembrance of the love which he bore us 
and our work, and of the distinguished and unremitted 
services which he rendered to the Evangelical Knowledge 
Society, from the hour of its inception until his death, 
will ever remain indelibly engraved upon onr hearts. 

We can not, will not forget him, and feel that the best 
expression of our affection for his memory will be in this 
our recorded resolution to follow his bright example of 
Evano-elic doctrine and life. 



The Pastoral Aid Society, New-York. 

At a meeting of the Council of the Pastoral Aid So- 
ciety of the Diocese of New- York, held February 28th, 
1861, in Grace Church vestry-room, the following resolu- 
tions were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That while we are deeply conscious of the 
great loss to the Church at large, to a bereaved parish, 
and to a stricken family, which has been sustained in the 
recent death of the Rector of St. Mark's, the Rev. Henry 
Anthon, D.D., the Council of the Pastoral Aid Society 
have a special obligation of gratitude to him, for a long- 
continued devotion to the best interests of this Society, 
for the able manner in which he fulfilled every trust re- 
posed in him as one of its executive officers, and for the 
pleasure and advantage of long association with him. 

Resolved, That we cherish the memory of his firm and 
fearless defense of the great principles which it is the ob- 
ject of the Pastoral Aid Society to set forth and main- 
tain, and that in the recollection of his earnest spirit we 
will find a motive for continued labor and prayer. 

Resolved, That the Council of the Pastoral Aid Society 
will cause this record of love and veneration for their late 
Corresponding Secretary to be entered at large upon 



54 

their minutes, with devout thankfulness to God for the 
glory of such a life, and the peace of such a death — for 
the precious memory of one who illustrated the picture 
of a true shepherd, sketched by his own hand in our last 
annual report : " A heaven-taught man who has studied 
the Word under the teaching of the Spirit and learned 
its truths at the feet of the Saviour." 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to 
the family of the late Dr. Anthon, and be published in 
the Church papers. 

Edwaed Anthon, Recording Secretary. 



The American Church. Missionary Society. 

Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D., departed this mortal life 
on Saturday, January 5th, at 11.45 a.m., after a brief but 
painful sickness. The last occasion on which he officiated 
in the public ministry was in the full services of Christ- 
mas-day. 

Dr. Anthox was Chairman of the Executive Committee 
of the American Church Missionary Society, from its or- 
ganization to the day of his departure. His associates in 
this Committee desire to put on record a commemoration 
of his personal excellence, and the great value of his serv- 
ices to them, in the important cause in which they have 
been engaged together. 

He was distinguished by very transparent candor and 
honesty, perfectly upright and honorable, and peculiarly 
open and frank in all his actions and in the expression of 
his views and judgments upon the subjects which came 
before him. He was remarkable for a gentle and kind 
concession to the judgments of others, singularly open to 
conviction, and acknowledging his change of judgment 
and opinion without the slightest hesitation or fear. He 



seemed peculiarly remote from all dogmatic obstinacy or 
perverse tenacity of his own preconceived judgments, and 
in his dealings with others, while never willing to sacri- 
fice a single point of vital principle, was always gentle 
and moderate in the annunciation of his own opinion and 
purposes. 

He was eminently a man of conscientious decision on 
the highest principles of evangelical truth and duty. We 
have worked with him in the cause of our common Lord 
with unchanging pleasure and satisfaction, and with no 
interruption of our harmony or mutual approbation. And 
we cherish his memory, as of a very consistent and faith- 
ful Christian minister, and of a brother extremely valued 
and beloved by us. 

The above minute was unanimously adopted at a stated 
meeting of the Executive Committee of the American 
Church Missionary Society, January lih, 1861. 
F. S. Wiley, 
/Secretary of Executive Committee. 



The Board of Missions, Iowa. 

At a meeting of the Board of Missions of the Diocese 
of Iowa, held in Davenport, January 10th, 1861, the 
following resolutions were reported and unanimously 
adopted : 

Hesolved, That in the lamented death of the Rev. Dr. 
Anthon the Diocese of Iowa has lost one of its most de- 
voted friends, and the cause of missions in this wide and 
needy field one of its most ready and liberal supporters. 

Hesolved, That while we deeply mourn over our loss, 
we rejoice that our departed friend has left such rich 
evidence that he has exchanged the labors and care of 
the Church on earth for the rest and peace of the Church 
in heaven. 



56 



Resolved^ That we sincerely sympathize with the afflict- 
ed family of the deceased and with the people who so long- 
enjoyed his able and faithful ministration in the Gospel 
of Christ. 

Resolved^ That a copy of these resolutions, signed by 
the President and Secretary of this Board, be transmitted 
to the family of the late Dr. Anthon and to the Vestry 
of St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, New- York. 

Heney W. Lee, President. 

Emekson Judd, Secretary. 



OBITUARY NOTICE! 



THE RELIGIOUS PRESS. 



The Protestant Churchman. 



It is our painful task to record the death of the Rev. 
Henry Anthon, D.D., Rector of St. Mark's Church, in 
this city, and either sole or associate editor of this paper, 
during the years of its existence. Dr. Anthon died at 
his late residence on Saturday, 5th inst., at 12 m. 

This event makes a sad blank in our church circles in 
New-York, especially among the more immediate asso- 
ciates in ministerial labor of our lamented brother. Upon 
the grief of the flock he has fed for so many years, and 
of his immediate family, we forbear to touch. 

He was a ripe scholar, a devout Christian, a faithful 
minister, and a man of singular simplicity of character, 
and fearlessness of devotion to the truth. He has labored 
long in his late relations, and his friends and brethren 
mourn for him as for one near and dear. 

Our object is not to make extended remarks at present, 
as others, better able from long and intimate knowledge of 
his career, will, in due time, lay the tribute of affection on 
the shrine of his memory. 

The funeral services were celebrated in St. Mark's 
Church, on Tuesday, 8th inst., at half-past three p.m., 
the services being read by Bishop Potter, Drs. Tyng and 
Taylor, and Rev. Mr. Montgomery. A vast throng of 
clergymen and friends were in attendance. We learn 
that a discourse commemorative of the life and labors of 
our departed brother, will be delivered in St. Mark's 



58 

Church, on Sunday morning next, 13th inst., at the re- 
quest of the Vestry, by Rev. Dr. Tyng. 

The Parish Visitor, New- York. 
Dr. x\nthon, our beloved brother in the faith and work 
of Christ, is numbered with us no more ; our hearts pur- 
sue into that world whither he has gone, unwilling to en- 
tertain the reality that he is beyond our sight and hear- 
ing. But in vain ! He has crossed the flood, and 

" Thither must we repair 
His converse more to share." 

Our feelings find best expression in the words of another 
to us, himself a veteran and standard-bearer upon the 
field w T here this leader of our Israel fell : " My brother ! 
my brother ! my heart grieves for thee. Farewell, dear 
Anthon, farewell till we meet above ! Gone a little 
before me ; taken from the evil to come ! The Lord pre- 
pare us to follow !" But he is with us in the spirit, and 
we will not forget him nor his bright example, but strive 
according to those precious and never worn-out words, 
so to " follow him as he followed Christ." 

The grateful remembrance of his love, and of the service 
which he rendered, primus inter pares, to many blessed 
works, will remain while life remains in the hearts of his 
brethren. 

In many departments of the Christian life and ministry 
he had few equals, and in some he had none, at least 
within our knowledge. He underwent some changes in 
his church life of the most trying kind, and suffered much 
for conscience' sake and the Gospel's sake, in which there 
ever shined out a noble sincerity, honesty, and consist- 
ency. 

Sometimes it seemed doubtful what duty and good 



59 

judgment and fidelity toward the Gospel required — how 
our Lord, if he could have been asked, would have de- 
cided. So long as this doubt remained, he would listen 
to all, yield any preferences of his own ; lie was anxious, 
and sometimes restless and troubled, until by further 
counsel, and study, and prayer, he should find the straight 
line of truth and duty. But that being found, all knew 
what to expect — a heart as faithful to the work as the 
the sun to his rising and going down. Where work was 
to be done, there was he. In him the cause of truth and 
right was sure to find an example of love, self-sacrifice, 
and never-ending action. Whether the work happened 
at the time to be popular or unpopular, gave him no con- 
cern. Years of labor, exhaustive of brain, and energy, 
and means, has he bestowed for the common good, with- 
out any reward, compensation, or honor other than what 
he enjoyed by the success of the good works to which he 
gave his all. And this he had ; for all his works pros- 
pered, and he had an abundant reward. Our last inter- 
view made a deep impression at the time, and now can 
never be forgotten. He reviewed different works, and 
entered into various counsels with the animation and 
vigor of youth, extending the work far into the night 
after a day of active labor, and manifested an unwonted 
joy even for it, in the consciousness of truth and right, 
and of the divine approval. 

How much that w T as personal and peculiar, and yet en- 
dearing, does busy memory recall, not to be recorded with 
pen and ink, but which shall remain engraven indelibly 
upon the fleshy tablet of the heart ! 

" Servant of God, well done ! 
Rest from thy loved employ. 
The battle's fought, the victory won — 
Enter thy Master's joy." c. w. a. 



60 

The Christian "Witness, Boston. 
A FAITHFUL SOLDIER FALLEN. 

We are grieved to record the death of the Rev. Henry 
Anthon, D.D., Rector of St. Mark's Church, New- York. 
He died, as we learn from a brief telegraphic report, on 
Saturday, the 5th inst., aged 66 years. Dr. Anthon has 
long held a prominent place among the most zealous and 
efficient Presbyters of our Church, and his death will be 
widely and deeply lamented. 

In the Christian Witness of January 18th, appeared 
the following communication. The reader will recognize 
the Bishop of Massachusetts through his initials : 

THE LATE REV. DR. ANTHON. 
To the Editor of the Christian Witness : 

To the brief and just tribute to the memory of this dis- 
tinguished minister of Christ, contained in your paper of 
last week, permit a few words to be added by one who 
has known him almost from the commencement of his 
career, and who, for some years past, has enjoyed the 
privilege of calling him an intimate and endeared friend. 
In the departure of Dr. Anthon, the cause of Protestant 
evangelical principles in our Church has lost an able, con- 
sistent, and laborious supporter, and his place in those in- 
stitutions which were set on foot for the promotion of 
those principles, will not be readily supplied. For he 
never shrank from work, and entered into any cause 
which was dear to his heart with a spirit of conscientious 
devotion. As a preacher, too, he will be remembered 
with high respect and regard. His style was the very 
opposite of that mystified and affected diction which is 
the vice of our day, and which, while it is often the ve 



61 

hide of confused perceptions of truth, is as often a cover 
for commonplace ideas and poverty of thought. He had 
the simplicity and clearness of the disciplined classical 
scholar ; and his sermons were always instructive exhibi- 
tions of divine truth, clothed in strong, nervous, and in- 
telligible Saxon. He was manly and without display, 
conveying to his hearers, while in the pulpit, the irresist- 
ible conviction of his sincerity and truth. 

But I beg to speak of my revered friend, especially in 
regard to one feature of his character, which speaks an 
instructive lesson to all, and particularly to his brethren 
in the ministry. I refer to his resoluteness and decision. 
This firmness was part of his natural constitution, but 
divine grace unquestionably strengthened it to a degree 
which unhappily is rarely to be found. In his course of 
duty he never vacillated — never listened to the cowardly 
suggestions of a supposed and petty expediency, but, 
with true heroism, planted his foot upon the position he 
had taken, and maintained it against all opposition. In 
this respect, his example was most salutary. May it con- 
tinue so to be, in leading our younger clergy to be un- 
swerving in adherence to principle, and to be willing to 
leave all the consequences of such adherence in the hands 
of Him whom they profess to serve. This admirable man 
has gone to his rest. Long will his aifectionate and genial 
nature be remembered by those who shared his friend- 
ship ; and in a far wider circle his name will be held in 
honor, as that of one of those thoroughly upright servants 
of God whose course is a blessing to their generation, 
and whose end is peace. M. E. 



The Church Journal, N"ew-York. 
Dr. Anthon's death removes one of the oldest land- 
marks on the list of our city clergy. And he was of those 



62 

who make their mark on the story of the Church. His 
ability was of a high order, especially as a writer, and as 
a leading man in council and in action. His chief trait of 
character was one in which the clergy as a class do not 
excel, and that was nerve — the impetuous will, and the 
prompt, fearless decision, to carry out to the utmost, re- 
gardless of persuasions, or merely human feelings, or 
public opinion, or consequences of any kind whatever, 
those uncompromising decisions to which his own con- 
scientious convictions led him. With this eager fearless- 
ness, there was a singular tenacity which clung to its 
purpose only the more unflinchingly for all the obstacles 
that rose in its way, and a firm personal resolution grow- 
ing only stronger and tougher with advancing years. 
Besides these qualities, which more than once made him 
prominent in controversies of great heat and of singular 
importance in their bearings upon the Church, he was a 
genial and faithful friend, with a racy and strong flavor of 
robust intellect in all his conversation. He was, from the 
first, an attentive and indefatigable parish priest, and was 
one of the very earliest of the city clergy to establish that 
most useful element of church growth — a parish-school. 
Outside his parish, he held a prominent place in a circle 
both of the clergy and the laity, whose convictions and 
feelings were such as enabled them to work harmoniously 
together ; and their entire confidence he retained to the 
last, being himself the ruling spirit, to a great degrje, of 
all their varied activities. He was indeed an earnest, 
strenuous soul, who did with his might all that his hand 
found to do ; and he has left behind him few who would 
be willing to do and dare as unshrinkingly as he did, for 
that which he believed in his conscience to be right. 



63 



The Episcopal Recorder, Philadelphia. 

The Rev. Dr. Antho^, whose death occurred in New- 
York on the 5th of January, was one of the most eminent 

and efficient men in the Episcopal Church To his 

unselfish and indefatigable zeal the vindication of Protest- 
ant and evangelical principles in New- York is mainly due. 
He organized and for years conducted the Protestant 
Churchman, and this, great as were the labors it entailed, 
not merely without remuneration, but with loss. He was 
one of the framers of the Evangelical Knowledge So- 
ciety, and during its entire location in New-York, was 
the most active as well as the most constant of its mana- 
gers. To him, more than any one else, is due the organ- 
ization of the American Church Missionary Society, and 
he was equally prominent and efficient in the Pastoral 
Aid Society of New-York. With these duties, in the 
discharge of which he was ever prompt, faithful, and vigi- 
lant, he had, we apprehend, the largest correspondence 
of any clergyman of our Church. And yet there was not 
a point in this mass of business that was not attended to 
accurately as well as fully. 

With all this, Dr. Anthox was a most tender and 
faithful pastor ; always present in his own services, almost 
always preaching, he was yet ever ready to give his 
brethren aid 

But he who thus almost alone vindicated the Protest- 
antism of our Church — he who to this single fearlessness 
added so much true kindness and sympathy — the earnest, 
the faithful, the prayerful, has now gone to meet that 
Master whom he served with such real humility of heart, 
and yet with such brave zeal. 

To him, after this active and stormy life, in whose 
outer duties he found no rest, the change is peace indeed. 



64 

But to us it is a great loss. That warm and open heart, 
which, while it made the rectory of St. Mark's for so many 
years the scene of such genial and simple hospitality, dif- 
fused such true warmth on the sick and the afflicted — 
that quick and ready mind ever working for the good of 
others, and never preferring or noticing self, are now gone 
from our midst. May the Lord who buries his workmen 
in order to carry on his work, be not only with the Church, 
one of whose chief laborers is taken, but with that family 
whose head is thus removed. 



The "Western Churchman. 
THE LATE DR. HENRY ANTHON. 

The death of this distinguished clergyman has sent a 
thrill of sorrow throughout the whole Church. Long and 
well known as a man of firm and unyielding integrity, 
bold in the defense of the truth, unswerving in his attach- 
ment to the evangelical views of the Episcopal Church, 
he was held in reverence by thousands who had never 
seen his face. He stood as one of the Christian landmarks 
in the city of New- York, and Christians of all denomina- 
tions have noticed, in terms of deepest respect for his 
memory, his removal from his place. 



The Church Monthly. 
THE DEATH OP .THE REV. DR. ANTHON. 

This distinguished clergyman of our Church died in 
New-York, on the 5th of January, 1861. Dr. Anthox 
has been the Rector of St. Mark's Church, in the Bowery, 
New- York, for about twenty years, having succeeded the 
Rev. Dr. Creighton in the charge of that important 
parish. He was a godly man, a sound divine, and a good 



65 ' 

churchman. Firm and unflinching even to severity, he 
was a consistent controversialist. HoldiDg to whatever 
he regarded as truth with a degree of tenacity which par- 
took of the martyr-spirit, no threats of his opponents and 
no persuasion of his friends could induce him to yield 
until he was fully convinced of his error. He was a man 
of great ability, and made himself felt wherever duty led 
him to act. 



St. Mark's Church, in the Bowery. 
THE LATE DR. ANTHON. 

I always had a love for old churches, and I well 
remember my regret when I saw the workmen taking 
down the French church in Pine street, and the feeling, 
that no modern structure could half so well fill my eye 
as that of " old Trinity." But in my day there was 
nothing about the Pine-street church to give it a rural 
aspect. . There was no graveyard, no trees, nor grass, 
nor tombs ; but Trinity and St. Paul's, the North 
Church, St. John's, and St. Mark's have all, with the 
exception of the former, changed but little, save in their 
surroundings. The internal changes are not sufficient to 
destroy the early associations. To the New-Yorker they 
are the old churches and the old graveyards, wherein he 
has worshiped or wandered when a boy; and in all the 
hurry, all the change which has come about them, still 
full of pleasant and tender recollections of a period when 
our restless city had more love and reverence for the 
places which knew the fathers. 

Few of the present day, accustomed to pass St. Mark's, 
know that it was originally a Dutch church, or rather, 
that here once stood the chapel of Peter Stuyvesant. 

He arrived in this country in 1647, and soon after- 



• Q6 

ward purchased a farm, which became known as the 
" Bouwery." For the accommodation of his family and 
the few residents in the neighborhood, the Governor, at 
his own expense, erected an edifice for worship on his 
farm, on the very site where St. Mark's Church now 
stands. In what year this chapel was built it is not 
known; but it was standing in 1660, for on the arrival 
in that year of the Rev. Henry Selyns from Holland, 
Mr. Stuyvesant made an arrangement to obtain part of 
his services for the chapel in the Bowery, and rendered 
himself personally responsible for the proportion of the 
salary corresponding to such services, and which, it ap- 
pears, were given by Mr. Selyns every Sunday afternoon. 
He continued to officiate until his return to Holland in 
1664, and the chapel, after his removal, was doubtless 
indebted, for frequent ministrations, to the clergy of the 
Dutch Reformed Church of New-Amsterdam, especially 
during the lifetime of Governor Stuyvesant, who died in 
1672. After the death of his widow, the chapel ceased 
to be used, and was soon in a state of dilapidation. In 
1793, Mr. Petrus Stuyvesant, the great-grandson of the 
Governor, and a member of the corporation of Trinity 
Church, took measures to induce the vestry to erect a 
Protestant Episcopal church upon the same site, toward 
which pious work he offered to contribute eight hundred 
pounds, and a lot of land, one hundred and fifty feet in 
width by one hundred and ninety feet in length. The 
corner-stone was laid on the 25th of April, 1795, and the 
edifice, having been completed May 9th, 1799, was con- 
secrated on that day to the worship of Almighty God, 
by Bishop Provoost. 

I have condensed this sketch of the history of St. 
Mark's Church from a sermon preached by the rector, 
the Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D., on the 4th of May, 



67 

1845 — fifty years after the consecration ; and on Tuesday 
last, the 8th of January, for the first time in many years, 
I passed into its courts. A great congregation had 
gathered, to bear testimony to the lite and character of 
him who, for a quarter of a century, had in that place 
preached Christ, and him crucified. It was such a tes- 
timony as few, save the faithful minister, ever commands. 
No pomp, no show could create such a scene or service 
as that. It was a gathering of the rich and poor, of the 
learned and the unlearned, with many little children — all 
seeking, with full hearts, to publicly declare their respect 
and affection for one who had been their teacher, their 
guide, their friend, and who had now passed to his great 
reward. 

It is no uncommon fact, that one who is content to 
follow his calling with great singleness and simplicity of 
purpose may, in a great city like this, quietly pursue that 
calling, and accomplish untold good, and the great, bus- 
tling world know little of it. And the world, in its 
ignorance, rarely pauses to inquire concerning its indebt- 
edness to the unceasing prayers and untiring labors of 
such men as Hexry Antho^t. Year after year, in the 
midst of changes and excitements, he pursued the un- 
deviating line of duty. One generation of men has 
passed away since he began to preach the Gospel. God 
ever honors his truth, and who can reckon the benefits 
and blessing which mankind have already, and those 
hereafter will reap, from these two score years of faithful 
ministerial labor ? 

And yet Dr. Amtiion exerted a large influence beyond 
the bounds of his own parish. In 1843, in connection 
with the Rev. Hugh Smith, he made a public protest 
against the admission of Mr. Arthur Carey to the Order 
of Deacons — and in thus assuming a hostile position to 



the heresies of Oxford, commanded the respect and affec- 
tion of thousands, not only in his own Church, but out of 
it. Not long after, he became connected as associate- 
editor and proprietor of the Protestant Churchman, 
and made it, what it still continues to be, an able expo- 
nent of Protestant principles ; and he lived to see the 
insignificant minority of the Convention of 1845 hold the 
balance of power in this Diocese. He was one of the 
founders of the Evangelical Knowledge Society, the 
Episcopal Quarterly IZevieio, and the New Church Mis- 
sionary Society ; and few outside of the circle in which 
he moved knew how much of time and money and tal- 
ents he thus contributed to advance the cause of evan- 
gelical truth. 

Not of all public men can it be said, Those that knew 
them the best, love them the most ; but of Mm I think 
this may be truly said. No one had a higher idea of 
what the Christian minister should be as a man, than lie. 
To the keenest sense of honorable dealing in all things, 
were added the noblest and most generous impulses. 
Singularly transparent in character, he yet loved retire- 
ment, and never sought publicity, except for the truth's 
sake. When such a demand was made, it was cheerfully 
and promptly met, and none could be bolder than he. 
Few will miss him more than those who labored with 
him in the Gospel. None, save those of his own house- 
hold, will miss him so much as the many poor and needy 
to -whose wants he so faithfully and so cheerfully minis- 
tered. Many a humble heart aches to-day at the thought 
of his death, and this — is fame ! 

In the cemetery of St. Mark's, around the church, the 
governors of three different dynasties — Dutch, English, 
and American — repose almost side by side. Other 
graves there are, and many, of those we know not of. 



Here have they made his grave. There is none within 
those grounds more honorable. Under the shadows of 
the walls which are articulate with the earnest appeals, 
the solemn declarations, the words of sympathy and of 
love, that for a quarter of a century dropped from his 
lips, it is well that he should rest : and many a passer-by, 
not only now, but in the years to come, will turn with 
tender recollections toward that spot where, in sorrow 
and with tears, kind hands and heavy hearts buried 
Henry Anthon. — Christian Intelligencer. ^ 



From the Protestant Churchman. 
INTERESTING SERVICES AT ROCHESTER. 

Rochester, January 21st, 1S61. 
On Thursday evening, a very solemn and interesting 
service was held in St. Luke's, in commemoration of the 
decease of Dr. Anthon. Evening service was conducted 
by the Rev. Dr. Claxton, and the Rev. Mr. Cheney, of 
Trinity ; after which the Rev. Mr. Gallagher, of Oswego, 
preached from 2 Timothy 4:7: 'I have finished my 
course ; I have kept the faith." The sermon gave a most 
interesting sketch of Dr. Anthon's career, and a truthful 
delineation of his remarkable character as a " Christian 
worker," and a defender of the faith once delivered to 
the saints. One fact related by Mr. Gallagher is worthy 
of mention, as illustrating the condition of the General 
Seminary about the time of the Carey ordination. At 
that time, Mr. Gallagher was a student in the Seminary, 
and four of those who then studied in the same class 
with him have since become Romanists ! What a vindi- 
cation is this single fact of the wisdom of the course of 
Drs. Smith and Anthon, in protesting so boldly against 
Mr. Carey's ordination, and in sounding far and wide 



70 

through our Church the note of alarm ! Both these no- 
ble men have gone to their rest ; their names, once vili- 
fied, are now revered ; and eternity only can reveal the 
fullness of that debt of gratitude which the Church owes, 
under God, to these noble champions of the truth. 

After the sermon, the Rev. Dr. Newton, of Philadel- 
phis, addressed the congregation from the chancel, in 
words fitly chosen, bearing his testimony that the char- 
acter of Dr. Anthon had not been over-estimated nor 
too highly colored by the preacher, and earnestly urging 
upon all the solemn lessons drawn from the departure of 
the man of God. 



From the Protestant Churchman. 
THE LATE DE. ANTHON. 

The Rev. Mason Gallagher, Rector of the Church 
of the Evangelists, Oswego, has kindly permitted the 
publication of the following extracts from his sermon on 
the late Rev. Dr. Henry Anthon, D.D. The sermon 
was preached at Oswego, January 13th, 1861, from the 
text : " I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." 
(2 Tim. 4 : 7.) 

. . . Our own parish has reason to mourn. From 
its earliest day it enlisted his sympathies and his prayers. 
He encouraged its progress in every way. To no man 
not of this parish is it more indebted for its continuance 
and prosperity, and it well becomes me to express the 
sorrow which we feel. 

He was one of the honored instruments in the found- 
ing of the Evangelical Knowledge Society. No one 
more fully appreciated its necessity, and no one labored 
more arduously to promote its usefulness. Always on its 
Executive Committee, no publication has been issued 



71 

without his perusal and approval. He regarded this 
Society as doing the Lord's work, and rejoiced in the 
continued evidence of divine favor. He writes to me on 
one occasion : " Our Evangelical Knowledge Society is 
prospering greatly. What a debt of gratitude is due 
from us to God for his guidance and blessing on this en- 
terprise ! We may rest on his blessing so long as we 
labor for the spread of a pure Gospel. I hope that our 
friends in Western New-York will derive a fresh impetus 
from what God has wrought on our behalf. Do prevail 
on all that you can influence to keep our cause before the 
mercy-seat. Our success demands of us renewed efforts." 
Speaking of the last annual meeting, he says : " Yester- 
day we had a very interesting and profitable meeting in 
old St. Mark's. The Evangelical Knowledge Society is 
anchored strongly in the confidence and affection of our 
brethren ; and every anniversary reminds us how much 
we owe the Lord for his guidance and grace." 

His last great work for Christ was his part in the 
organization of the American Church Missionary Society. 
It was at the formation of this Society last spring that I 
Avas allowed my last interview with him. While I looked 
on that noble body of men engaged in laying its founda- 
tions, I thanked God for his gift in them to the Church. 
I knew his intense interest in the great enterprise des- 
tined to accomplish so much good for our Zion. I little 
thought that he who in value and usefulness was unsur- 
passed by living man was the first to be taken ; to hu- 
man appearance, he had many years of active service 
before him. But the Almighty has willed otherwise, and 
after permitting him to behold the accomplishment of an 
object, long dear to his heart, with his eye undimmed 
and his natural force unabated, he took him to his rest. 

... An emergency occurred in the history of our 



72 

Church — one which demanded faith, courage, patience, in 
their highest developments. A man was needed for the 
crisis, and Dr. Anthon was found to be the man. 

You know the history of the Tractarian system, which 
originated at Oxford. Its unsound teachings were em- 
braced in this country by clergymen and laymen in great 
numbers. In July, 1843, a young man named Arthur 
Carey was graduated at the General Theological Semi- 
nary, and sought orders in our Church. He was gentle 
and lovely in his character. I knew him well. He was 
suspected of unsoundness in the faith. The Seminary, it 
was well known, was largely leavened with the new 
theology. I can testify to the truth of this charge, as I 
was then a member of the institution. It was a hot-bed 
of unscriptural doctrine. The leaders of the new move- 
ment had more influence than its sound, able, and vener- 
able professors. Of my own class in the Seminary, four 
have since become Romanists. 

After a full conversation with Mr. Carey, Dr. Hugh 
Smith (with whose parish Mr. Carey was connected) 
refused, with the advice of Dr. Anthon", to sign the 
candidate's testimonials. A special examination of Mr. 
Carey took place, at which the Bishop and eight pres- 
byters were present. At this examination, Mr. Carey 
avowed that he deemed the differences between us and 
Rome such as embraced no point of faith. He doubted 
whether the Church of Rome or the Anglican Church 
were the more pure ; considered the Reformation unjusti- 
fiable, and followed by grievous and lamentable results, 
though not without others of an opposite character ; 
faulted not the Church of Rome for reading the Apocry- 
pha for proof of doctrine ; did not consider that we were 
bound to receive the Thirty-nine Articles in any close and 
rigid construction of the same: declared that he knew 



73 

not how to answer the question which had been repeat- 
edly asked, whether he considered the Church of Rome 
to be now in error in matters of faith ; was not prepared 
to pronounce the doctrine of transubstantiation an ab- 
surd and impossible doctrine; did not object to the 
Romish doctrine of purgatory as taught by the Council 
of Trent. He believed that the state of the soul after 
death was one in which it could be benefited by the 
prayers of the faithful and the sacrifice of the altar ; re- 
garded the denial of the cup to the laity as a severe act 
of discipline only ; justified the invocation of saints ; in 
one instance declared that he did not deny, but would 
not positively affirm the decrees of the Council of Trent ; 
in another declared that he received the articles of the 
Creed of Pius IV., so far as they were repetitions of the 
decrees of that council. 

Incredible as it may seem, such was the madness of the 
hour, the Bishop and six of the presbyters decided to or- 
dain this candidate. Are we surprised that Drs. Smith 
and Anthon, as faithful Protestant clergymen, refused 
to give their sanction to such an act ? The day of the 
ordination arrived — a most eventful day in the history of 
our Church. I was present at the scene. When the 
Bishop put the question, whether any one present knew 
any impediment in the way of the ordination, I remem- 
ber how those two undaunted men arose and read their 
public protest. The ordination proceeded. The two 
protesters left the church. I remember the loud Amen 
of Bishop Ives at the conclusion of the form of ordina- 
tion. He was present in the chancel; Mr. Carey died a 
few months after his ordination. Five years later Dr. 
Smith rested from his labors. Bishop Ives entered the 
Church of Rome. 

The Protestant Churchman was at once vigorously 



74 

and successfully employed by Dr. Anthon to arrest the 
tide of error. The minds of the thoughtful of our com- 
munion were aroused to the true state of affairs. The 
good work has advanced until the open advocates of the 
Oxford heresy have become small in numbers, and their 
influence confined to a small portion of our Zion. Dr. 
Anthon's words have been verified : " We can regard 
this issue only as providential, as though God himself 
had unexpectedly opened the way for the discussion, and 
perhaps the settlement of great principles, and the con- 
sequent peace, purity, and prosperity of his Church." 

" It was," said Bishop Mcllvaine, in his charge to the 
clergy of Ohio in 1843, "a trying duty. It required a 
strong decision of conscience, and a strong nerve of 
obedience to meet the case in faithfulness. It was done 
with calmness and dignity ; and when I consider the 
whole matter in connection with all the circumstances of 
the Church in these times, I feel that the whole Church 
owes a large debt of gratitude to these brethren, for their 
faithful, noble, and painful stand for the purity of her 
ministry." 

The act of which I have just spoken bears witness to 
Dr. Anthon's unshrinking courage and faithfulness in 
the discharge of duty. Gentle, affable, and courteous in 
his deportment, his modesty and humility were remark- 
able. While occupying an exalted position in the heart 
of the Church, there was no presumption, no pretension. 
He listened calmly to the arguments of those who held 
opposite views, and freely changed his opinions when 
convinced that he was in the wrong. 

Another feature in his character was his incessant de- 
votion to his Master's work. Let me here quote to you 
from his familiar correspondence. When urged to ac- 
cept the editorship of the Protestant Episcopal Quar- 



75 

terly Review, he writes : " There is a part of the work 
that, were I free, I would cheerfully and hopefully under- 
take ; but situated as I am at present, I could not con- 
sent to even a temporary charge. Here is Thursday, 
and since Monday I have been at work for the Evangeli- 
cal Knowledge Society, the Pastoral Aid Society, the 
Protestant Churchman, etc., and have not yet cleared 
my table. Ought I, under such a state of things, to 
assume more work or fresh responsibility ? To me it is a 
fixed fact, judging from the past, that if I were to con- 
nect myself with the Kevieio, as some request and urge, 
an amount of work would be thrust upon me that would 
crush me down. If I know myself, I am not disposed to 
shrink from duty. All of us ought to add, if possible, to 
our usefulness in our Master's cause. But there is a 
limit beyond which we are not expected to go, especially 
if, in so doing, the field of plain and pressing duty, the 
lot in which we stand, must suffer. Let us wait pa- 
tiently, and ' watch unto prayer.' " 

On another occasion he thus writes : " Yesterday I 
preached three times, catechised three times, attended a 
funeral, and visited a sick person, and now, through the 
goodness of God, feel as fresh as ever." In view of such 
multifarious, incessant labor, we are not surprised to 
hear him say : " My brother beloved, my hands are very 
full, and often hang down. I wish our right-minded 
brethren would occasionally, if not regularly, strengthen 
them." I believe the enormous weight and responsibility 
borne for years by Dr. Anthon has shortened his days. 
But if results measure life, few have lived longer or ac- 
complished more for Christ. 

I could speak, if time would allow, of his zeal for 
Church extension, of his love for the Sunday-school, of 
his preparation of elementary works for the minds of the 



76 



young, of his domestic virtues. A more perfectly sym- 
metrical character, a more useful and faithful servant of 
God, whose meat and drink it was to do his Master's 
will, it has never been my privilege to know. I thank 
God for his friendship and his sympathy. It has helped to 
sustain me in my own field of labor, under all difficulties 
and trials. 



Extract from Bishop Mcllvaine's Charge to the Clergy of the 
Diocese of Ohio, June, 1861. 

There has been another death during the year, of which 
personal affection, as well as a remembrance of good 
deeds to this diocese, prompts the notice — that of the 
Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D., late rector of St. Mark's 
Church, in the city of New- York. My own bosom and 
most beloved friend for many, many years, he was the 
energetic, persevering, most faithful friend of the Church 
in this diocese, and especially of its collegiate institutions 
at Gambier. To him and his influence we are indebted for 
a large part of the contributions which have erected our 
buildings and endowed our professorships. "We never 
sought his aid in vain. The pure truth of the Gospel 
had in vain a most faithful champion, and pure religion 
an honorable example. He, too, was taken from the evil 
to come. One's heart almost envies the escape of those 
who have recently died in the Lord, from the grief of 
witnessing the tribulations which have since come upon 
our country. " But there remaineth a rest" for all of us, 
if, like that dear departed brother, we follow Christ and 
faithfully confess him before men. Let us count all 
things but loss that we may win Christ, and be found n? 
him when our call shall also come. 



77 



From the New- York Commercial Advertiser, April 4th, 1861. 

The" Memorial Church of the Rev. Henry Anth ox, 
D.D., in Forty-eighth street, between Sixth and Seventh 
Avenues, was consecrated this morning at half-past ten 
o'clock. This church-structure has been completed from 
the plans and under the direction of Messrs. Renwick, 
Auchmuty and Sands, architects. 

The Memorial Church was built by the Parish of St. 
Mark's in the Bowery. Originally intended as a chapel 
of St. Mark's, it was, on the death of their beloved 
Rector, set apart by that congregation as the memorial 
of his untiring labors for church extension. 

A mural tablet of Caen stone, in the chancel, reads as 
follows: 

A MEMORIAL 
OP THE LOVE AND ESTEEM OF THIS CONGREGATION 

FOR 

THE REV. HENRY ANT HON, D.D., 

TO WHOM THIS CHURCH IS, 

UNDER DIVINE PROVIDENCE, INDEBTED 

FOR ITS EXISTENCE. 

HE RESTED FROM HIS LABORS 

JAN. 5th, A.D. 1861, 

IN THE 66th YEAR OF HIS AGE, 

THE 45th OF HIS MINISTRY, 

AND THE 25th OF UK RECTORSHIP OF 

ST. MARK'S IN THE BOWERY. 

HE WAS A FAITHFUL MAN, 
AND FEARED GOD ABOVE MANY. 

Neh. vii : ft. 



78 

The entire cost is nearly forty-five thousand dollars. 
The church is built in the Italian Romanesque style ; the 
material is yellow Milwaukee brick-work ; the buttresses 
and window-trimmings are of red brick and black marble; 
the durl jambs are of cut free-stone, with white marble 
capitals to the columns. 

The front is divided into three parts — a centre and two 
side-aisles, with elegant carved doors and rose windows 
of delicate tracery filled with stained-glass. 

The interior of the church is divided by octagonal col- 
umns upholding arches into a nave with side-aisles. The 
nave is thirty-eight feet wide and forty-five feet high, 
with an open timber-work roof, painted in polychrome. 
The chancel is separated from the body of the church by 
an arch supported by columns. Its ceiling is stained in 
blue with star-spangles, and is lighted from above by a 
colored-glass skylight. At the back of the chancel are 
tablets, with inscriptions in gold, upon a blue ground — the 
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and various Texts from Holy 
Scripture. The organ-chamber and robing-room are on 
either side of the chancel and in the side-aisles. The pews, 
and the whole wood-work of the interior, are of chestnut 
in combination with black walnut. There are sittings 
for over one thousand persons. There is a large and airy 
basement, divided by folding-doors into an infant and 
Sunday school-room, capable of seating nearly six hundred 
children. The arrangement of the folding-doors allows 
the rooms to be separated or throwm into one, as may be 
desired. The seats are furnished with what are called 
railroad-backs, so that the rooms may also be used for 
lectures. In the basement provision is made for the Parish 
Library, and also for the Dorcas Society. The whole 
plan of this fine building is true to the style in which it 
is built, and the effect of both its exterior and interior 
architecture is pleasing and cheerful. 



79 



A large congregation was present at the ceremonies of 
the consecration. In the chancel were Bishops Potter 
and Eastburn, the Rev. Edward Anthon, (the Rector of 
the Church,) the Rev. Drs. Canfield, Moore, Chauncey, 
Houghton, and Wiley. The sermon, preached by the 
Bishop of Massachusetts, was from the text, " I have a 
goodly heritage.'' 

Extract from Bishop Eastburn' s Sermon, Preached at the Con- 
secration of the Memorial Church of the Rev. Henry Anthon. 
D. D., April 4th, 1861. 

My friends and brethren assembled on this interesting 
occasion : I stand here, by the courteous request of your 
respected diocesan, to mingle my own congratulations 
with yours and his, on the completion of this monument, 
as it truly is, and as you have determined that through 
all the future it shall be called, to the memory of that 
distinguished minister and servant of Christ, to whose 
zealous love for our "goodly heritage" and unwearied 
activity in its extension, the building this day set apart is, 
under God, altogether due. And what monument more 
fitting could be raised to describe his character and to 
record the principal aim by which his energetic life was 
actuated ? In regard to those marked qualities by which 
our departed friend was distinguished, and which gave 
him a firm seat in the affections of those of us who agreed 
with him in his views of truth, and in the respect of those 
who most widely differed from those views, I shall not 
now speak at large. Let me only say, over his recently 
opened grave, that, in a world full of duplicity, he was a 
man of openness, ingenuousness, of truth ; that in a time- 
serving world he was a man inflexibly firm to principle ; 
that in a world governed by the meanness of selfish mo- 
tives, he was a man who went forward preeminently in 
the resolute and heroic acting out, at whatever cost, and 
alike through good report and through evil report, of his 



clear convictions of duty. Blessed be God for such an 
example! May it speak from his tomb with a living 
voice to those who are now filling their several posts in 
the ministry of the Word. But the occasion on which 
we are gathered reminds us of one especial claim of this 
departed servant of God to our grateful remembrance. 
Large as was his love for all of every name who honor 
Christ as Saviour, Master, and God, his loyalty and affec- 
tion for our own Church, and the ardor of his desire for its 
increase, are known and read of all men. He loved our 
form of sound words with an intense love. He loved it 
on the grounds I have set forth to-day. He loved it be- 
cause of its prayers being prayers in truth. He loved it 
because every page is full of the Lord Jesus Christ as our 
perfect and only righteousness. He loved it because it 
not only proclaims but preserves that pure and precious 
Gospel truth which is revealed in the word of God. And 
so loving our dear and glorious old Church, he labored 
to extend it so long as life remained. Since his departure 
what utterances of acknowledgment for his services in 
this cause have come to us from the North and from the 
South, from the East and from the West ! And in this 
place of worship how deeply was his soul engaged, and 
with what joyous anticipations did he look forward to 
the day when, amidst a throng of rejoicing friends, he 
should see it dedicated to the service of the everlasting 
Three in One ! God has not permitted him to behold this 
consummation of his prayers and labors ; but it is our 
privilege to think of him now, and in this substantial 
edifice his memory will be perpetuated to distant genera- 
tions. Long may this building stand, not only as a witness 
for the Lord Jesus, but as a memorial of a life which by 
God's grace seemed to say these words : " If I forget thee, 
O Jerusalem ! let my right hand forget her cunning, if I 
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." 



Inscription on the Mnral Tablet in St, Mark's Church. 



THE 

WARDENS AND VESTRYMEN 

OF 

ST. MARK'S CHURCH IN THE BOWERY, 

HAVE ERECTED 

THIS TABLET 

TO THE MEMORY OF 

THE EEY. HENRY ANTHON, D.D., 

WHO WAS BORN MARCH 11, 1795, 

Ordained September 29, 1816, 

CHOSEN RECTOR OP THIS CHURCH JANUARY 14, 1S87 

AND DEPARTED THIS LIFE JANUARY 5, 18 6 1- 

A FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, 

A Devoted Son of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
A Catholic Christian, a Good Citizen, an Honest Man. 

HIS LIFE WAS AN EXAMPLE OF SINGULAR PURITY AND CONSISTENCY. 
AS HE LIVED AND LABORED FOR CHRIST, 
SO HE DIED IN THE EULL FAITH AND HOPE 
OF niS GOSPEL. 

'•''He was a faithful man, and feared God above many. — Nehemiah 7 : 2. 



V/eU 

FEB 23 1909 



